


It's Elemental

by LilGray1326



Category: Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris, True Blood
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-06 13:18:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 48,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3135896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilGray1326/pseuds/LilGray1326
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in Season Two starts in the middle of Episode 9, 'I Will Rise Up' </p><p>Wherein Eric and Sookie face many foes with the help of many friends some new, some old.</p><p>Please note the Character Death and Rape/Non-Con mentioned do not directly involve Sookie or Eric... the bad guys do that to other characters, just an FYI... this is actually a Romance, a graphic romance, but a romance none-the-less.  Also contains BDSM, D/s Relationships, Mentions of Cutting (Self Mutilation) (Nothing too graphic or detailed but it is mentioned), the aforementioned Character Death, Rape, and Torture.  However, this story will have an HEA for Sookie and Eric.</p><p>First story in a series tentatively titled 'The Weaves of the Moiré' but we haven't made a final decision on that just yet... I will warn you the current plans will make this story very, VERY long. </p><p>Hope to have lots of ESN. AU may include spoilers from True Blood through S07E10 'Thank You' and Southern Vampire Mysteries up through book 13.5: 'After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Will Never Be Alone Again

**Author's Note:**

> *Old Story being revised and uploaded as of 2014-02-26. New updates will be as real life permits. New chapters to come soon!*
> 
> Please note the Character Death and Rape/Non-Con mentioned in the warnings do not directly involve Sookie or Eric... the bad guys do that to other characters, just an FYI... this is actually a Romance, a graphic romance, but a romance none-the-less. Also contains BDSM, D/s Relationships, Mentions of Cutting (Self Mutilation) (Nothing to graphic or detailed but it is mentioned), the aforementioned Character Death, Rape, and Torture. However, this story will have a HEA for Sookie and Eric.
> 
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Hope to have lots of ESN. AU may include spoilers from True Blood through S07E10 'Thank You' and Southern Vampire Mysteries up through book 13.5: 'After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse'. 
> 
> Beta'd by Robin, however all remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> In addition, thoughts are in italics, thoughts sent telepathically are in bold italics, and emphasized words are underlined

**Revised 2015-01-05**

**The quote about Royalty Blended is from chapter one of ‘From Dead To Worse’ Page 19 in the paperback version.**

**This story has been beta'd by Robin, however all remaining mistakes are mine.**

In addition, _thoughts are in italics_ , _thoughts sent telepathically are in bold italics,_ and emphasized words are underlined

**________________________________________________________________**

**It’s Elemental**

**By Lilly Gray & Robin McAllister**

**© 2011-2015 Sarah A. Higgins & Robin McAllister**

**Chapter 001**

**You Will Never Be Alone Again**

**________________________________________________________________**

**Thursday, October 16, 2008 at around 9 am**

“Why are we standing in a hallway staring at a door?  Are we going to knock?”  Seraphina’s youngest companion asked.  Sera had known the other woman for many Millennia, but the woman still did not get it, did not get Sera.

“We are not here to knock on the door.  We are here to be in front of the door at the precise moment it opens.  Really by now you should know that everything in our world is ‘hurry up and wait’, even the stuff of Prophecies.  We must wait for our young charge to open the door on her own.”

Sera watched as her three other companions gave into the urge to roll their eyes…  Sera did not understand their attitude as she had stood outside each of their doors once upon a time.  Sera thought with their eidetic memories and perfect recalls they would remember everything but they seemed to pick and choose what to remember.  Sera found their selective memory to be really rather annoying.  She thought to herself that her young charge would be a breath of fresh air.  Sera found herself hoping her charge would understand her, because in Sera’s opinion if Sookie did not understand Sera then no one ever would.

Sera heard Sookie moving around on the other side of the door, softly speaking to herself.  The Vampire, though old enough to stay awake well past dawn, had had a rough evening and Sera could sense that he was already dead for the day.  Sera strained to hear Sookie’s words even though she already knew what Sookie was saying. 

Unable to resist the urge to see it all happen Sera sent her spirit into the room and gave herself a bird’s eye view of the room in time to hear Sookie proclaim, “God you sure are heavy Eric.  Well duh the guy is like a foot taller than you and way heavier.”  Sera could see from her vantage point by the ceiling corner as Sookie tried to lift Eirik’s legs and turned him so that he was laying down on the couch instead of dead while sitting up right.  His own blood, from his tears of grief over the loss of his Maker, still covered his face and chest.

Sera thought, _‘When we are done here I must call Leifr, I know he felt his Childe leave this plane and I wish to comfort him.  He and Eirik should be together so they can help each other through this horrible time.  Eirik will need Leifr’s help to come to terms with Godric’s unfortunate passing.’_

Sera really wished she could have changed Godric’s mind, but he had already made it up so there was no changing it.  If Eirik’s tears had not changed his mind, there was no way her or Leifr’s words would have.

Sera watched young Sookie take off Eirik’s shoes and place them just so on the floor at the foot of the couch and then leave the living room of Eirik’s suite, then Sera heard water running before Sookie’s footfalls led her back to the room.  Sookie wiped the blood from Eirik’s face and chest with the washcloth she retrieved from the bathroom.

“Now what do I do?”  Sookie asked of the empty room as she folded the washcloth and placed it on the coffee table.  She almost sounded as though she expected the dead vampire to wake and answer her.  “I should go back to my room I guess.  Bill will be there and even though he’s asleep for the day, he wouldn’t want me staying with Eric any longer than necessary.  Although, after he hit Eric with that sucker punch tonight I’m not sure I really care about his opinion on the matter.”  Sera both heard Sookie’s voice getting closer and watched as she neared the door so Sera called her spirit back to her body as they waited those final seconds.

**_’5, 4, 3, 2, 1…  Showtime Ladies,’_** Sera thought to her companions as the doorknob turned.

Sookie stopped with her hand on the door handle to look at Eirik one more time before opening the door.  _‘He looks so broken, even after I washed the blood from his skin.  Even though I know he’ll be dead until dark I still don’t want to leave him alone but I know I don’t know him well enough to be here when he wakes up.’_

With her decision made, Sookie turned back to the door and opened it while she was looking through her purse for her room key.  When she found it, she took a step into the hallway and looked up only to gasp and stop at the sight of five otherworldly looking women, who seemed to be glowing slightly, just standing in the hallway staring at Sookie.  Sookie thought they looked otherworldly because they seemed too perfect.  Their facial structures were too beautiful.  They glowed a little from the inside out like whatever was beneath their skin was glowing and the skin was not thick enough to hide the glow.

Sookie could not place the look on any of their faces, except the one in the middle looked excited.  Sookie tried to dip inside their minds to see if they were friend or foe but she ran up against five solid steel walls, or at least that is what it felt like, it almost hurt trying to look into their minds, but one thing was certain to Sookie; not one of them was Human.

Sera, the one in the middle, was Sookie’s height and her hair was the same color as Sookie’s or at least Sookie thought so.  It was hard to tell what with the pink, blue and purple hair dye whether Sera’s hair was once the same shade of Blonde.  Sera’s blue eyes did remind Sookie of her own eyes, though.

The other women were much different.  The one on the left had a dark complexion and she looked to be 5’11″ or so.  Her hair was long, straight, and black as coal.  Her companions had Blonde, Auburn and Pure White hair respectively and they all look to be either just slightly taller than the one on the left or just shorter.  Sera was definitely the shortest of the bunch.

“Um, Hi!  Can I help you?  Eric is asleep.”  Sookie stumbled over her words.  Her gran never told her what to do when met in the hallway by five women who were so very ‘Other.’

Sera spoke, her voice sounded almost like wind chimes to Sookie.  “We are not here for the Vampire today, though his destiny will be upon him before he knows it.  Today we are here to speak with you.  May we join you in your room?  This conversation would be best had in private.”

“Umm I’m not in the habit of inviting total strangers into my hotel room, especially when I’m not the only one staying in the room.”

“Ah yes, the young vampire… he will not bother us, nor will we bother him.  We wish only to speak with you and offer you options for the coming future.”  Sera held her hand out to Sookie who took hold of it without thinking.  Sookie was immediately flooded with calm and she could almost feel Sera’s sincerity. 

Sookie thought, _‘These women, or at least the one in the middle, mean me no harm.  So…’_ “This way, I’m two doors down on the left.”  After letting go of Sera’s hand Sookie walked past them to lead them to the door.  She stopped before she slid the keycard into the lock and turned back to the women.  Sera spoke again.

“We mean you no harm, but others do and we wish to prevent the havoc they seek to reap over your small town and your life.”

“Do you know what attacked me in the woods the other day?”  Sookie asked cautiously.   _‘If they know then I want to know but… maybe they’re working with the creature.’_   She thought worriedly.

“We are not working for, or with, that vile creature; she is beneath us and seeks to undo all I have worked so hard to achieve.  If we are not careful, she and others will be the end of you and me both.  Please just hear us out.  I give you my word that we will not harm you.”

Sookie felt compelled to do as Sera said and then she snapped out of it.  “Don’t do that.  Glamour doesn’t work on me.”  Then Sookie remembered that Sera answered something Sookie never spoke aloud…   _‘She can hear my thoughts…’_   “You’re a Telepath?”

“Among other things, and please forgive me, what I was doing is not a glamour but it was unintentional.  I have not been in such close proximity to one such as us in so long I forget what I am capable of in your presence.  Your presence increases my powers tenfold, I will be more mindful not to use them on you.”

Sera genuinely seemed sorry for what she did and Sookie thought that if they were going to kill her they would have done it already so finally Sookie decided to get them all out of the hallway.  She put the card in the lock and opened the door.  Holding the door open for the women Sookie motioned them in.  As they crossed the threshold Sookie was relieved to know that they did not require a verbal invitation, _‘so definitely not Vampires, though all good vampires are resting right now so I have no idea what they are.  Then again this hotel room is registered under Eric’s name so Vampire’s don’t need an invitation, Shit!’_

“Forgive me, but what are you?”  Sookie blushed scarlet after the words left her mouth.  “I’m sorry that was very rude of me I…”

“Nonsense, you have the right to know what you have invited into your room.  We are Elementals.”  Sera motioned to each woman, pausing to point at a different woman as she said each word.  “Water, Air, Earth, Fire, and I, of course, am Spirit.”

Sookie wondered what exactly she should say to that!“Umm, so what do Elementals want from me?”  She asked nervously as she looked at each woman standing just inside the room.  Sookie closed the door and led them to the couches in the middle of the room.  “Please sit.”  Sookie’s gran raised her to be polite.

“We want you to survive what is coming.  Without our help, you will not survive the next week.  Someone you have not met yet will kill you and your Mate as well when he tries to save you.”

Sookie gasped.  _‘I’ll die and so will Bill…’_  “What do I need to do to avoid our deaths?”

“You, child, have a choice to make.  Do as we suggest and you will have everything you have ever wished for and so much more, or do nothing and die eight days hence.  You will either have everything or nothing at all.”  Sera looked sad as she said, “You are not going to grow old, but if you do as we suggest you will see the future and raise a family with your Mate.”

“So what exactly should I do to avoid death?”  Sookie asked apprehensively.

Sera smiled, “Death will happen either way…  Immortality cannot happen without a little death, but it will not be your Final Death if you agree to our terms.”  She paused as if remembering something.  “I am sorry; I forgot to introduce myself I am Seraphina the Elder.”  Sera did not give the other women’s names.

“As I was saying death will happen either way, but you have the opportunity to avoid Final Death…  If you become an Elemental, like us, or more specifically like me…  You would be the Spirit Elemental.”

Sookie interrupted her, “‘The’ as in there’s only one?”

“No, you and I will both be Spirit Elementals; we are one and the same.  The time for us to be in separate places and times is growing nearer, but it will not be today.  My companions on the other hand will be leaving this existence today if you agree to become an Elemental.  Do not be sad for them, however, they have waited for this day for tens of millennia.  This is not the end for them either; they will just be embarking on a new path.”

Sera paused as if waiting for Sookie to speak, so Sookie rushed to fill the silence.  “Umm, what are the pros and cons of being an Elemental?”

Earth laughed, it sounded full and hearty.  “She is just like you Sera.”  Seraphina just smiled for a moment and then answered Sookie’s question.

“The pros are that you will not die your Final Death, you will live a long life and have the family you have always wanted.  When all is said and done you and your Mate will be inseparable and undefeated.  You will have much happiness, there will be sadness and loss as well, but that is the case no matter what kind of creature you are.  Life would not be worth living without the dichotomy that is happiness and sadness, joy and tragedy, good and evil, black and white always makes gray, the beauty is in the different shades of gray they make…

If you become an Elemental, you will see all the colors and shades the world has to offer and you will revel in them.  Furthermore, at the end of the day, be it a good day or a bad day, full of hope or tragedy you will have your Mate by your side and with him your family…  You will never be alone again.”

Sera paused for a moment, “The Cons are that you will live a long life…  I myself am older than the Human race… which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the day.  Some days the years pile up on you but your Mate will help you through that, I dare say that is why he was made to be so much older than you are.  You will love and feel the loss of death many times over, but that pain will generally be overshadowed by the joy of living and loving.” 

Sera stopped with a serene smile on her face as if she could hear Sookie’s surprise, which led Sookie to think, _‘she can hear my thoughts, so…’_

“Wow, umm, the sun…?”  Sookie did not know how to phrase what she wanted to ask.

Sera seemed to know what Sookie meant though.  “You will not lose the Sun; you will walk beneath the Sun and the Moon equally.  In fact, most of the Human things you do now will be the same for you after the transformation… except the aging and dying parts anyway.  You will find nourishment from food, though it will not be strictly necessary as you will be able to live off the energy around you, which will, I am sure, come in handy from time to time, I know it has for me.

Money will not be an issue since you will be inheriting everything these women have and they have many, many lifetimes worth of fortunes, but then again so does your Mate, so that would not have mattered in the long run.

You will not have to work if you do not wish to.  For now, you probably will continue to work but there will come a time when your family will need you to be with them and care for them but that has been the case for women for millennia.  You will be able to sleep, though that also will not be strictly necessary, and you will be better able to control your telepathy with far less effort.”  Sera stopped as if searching her mind to see if she forgot anything.

Sookie sat back and thought on all that Sera said…   _‘Ultimately I trust this woman, I’m not sure why, but my instincts which have always taken good care of me are telling me to trust this strange woman before me.  I know in my bones that what she says is true; especially the part about my Final Death coming within the next week… the way my life has been lately it fits within my reality.’_

Decision made Sookie asked Sera, “How exactly would it work, I mean what would I have to do…?”

“You will sit here on the couch with us and drink the blood of each of us until we disappear from the room, except for me, I will remain to guide you for a time.  You will not be able to go home for three days.  The transition takes about 72 hours, and you will be at your most vulnerable during this time.  If someone wants to end you those 72 hours will be the only chance they have, but I know once I explain to the Viking what is going on he will see to your safety until it is safe for you to return to your home.”

“Umm are you sure you can trust Eric, I mean are you sure _I_ can trust Eric?”  Sookie wanted to believe she could trust Eirik but she had such mixed emotions when it came to him.

Seraphina giggled, she actually giggled.  “Oh yes, I have known the Viking for his entire existence including his human one.  He is honorable.  He keeps his word and he always repays a debt.  I know you will disagree but Eirik will feel that he owes you for what you did for Godric.

I do not know if you know this or not, but Eirik stayed just inside the door while you and Godric spoke.  He did not return to his room until after Godric left this plane.  Not only did your words bring comfort and hope to Godric in his time of need but they also brought some measure of comfort to Eirik.

That you gave freely of your tears for the loss of his Maker moved him greatly, though it will be sometime before he feels comfortable discussing Godric or your role in his passing with anyone, including you.

I dare say you confuse Eirik greatly, much as he confuses you.  In all his years, he has only ever met one woman like you and you make him feel things I never made him feel.  In general you make him feel and that makes Eirik uncomfortable which is probably why he has always been an ass to you.”

At that, Sookie giggled.  “He does tend to be an ass.”  She agreed wholeheartedly.

Sera got serious after a minute of giggling together.  “It will not always be that way.  I know you do not believe it right now but one day you will see the real Eirik, I dare say you saw bits of him tonight but you will see all of him one day soon, and I promise you he will take your breath away.

Right now, the different bloods inside you are competing with each other.  The young one’s blood is fighting with your blood inside you, which is holding you back from giving all of yourself to the one you are meant to.  Furthermore, while your blood has accepted Eirik’s blood the young one’s blood within you is also fighting Eirik’s blood for control, which is ultimately causing great confusion inside you.  But worry not, the battle between the bloods within you will be over soon and the rightful one will build you up and make you more powerful and clearheaded instead of tearing you down and creating a mass of confusion and doubt inside you.”

Sera paused again, and then continued more somberly.  “Have you decided child?”

Sookie sat and thought on it for a moment or two more.  The bit Sera said about the blood confused Sookie and raised more questions but ultimately Sookie trusted Sera and Sera thought becoming an Elemental was the best bet so, “Yes, I accept your offer.”  Sookie hoped she sounded surer of herself than what she felt.

Earth moved over to sit beside Sookie.  She had not paid attention to Earth’s clothing earlier but she was in a beautiful green and brown gown.  It looked like something from the renaissance period.  It felt soft and flowing as it brushed against Sookie’s hand.  She watched as fangs seemed to form in Earth’s mouth and then Earth moved behind Sookie just before she heard that awful crunching noise that happened when someone tore away their own flesh and the next thing Sookie knew she was drinking from the wound in Earth’s wrist.

The blood did not taste like Sookie would imagine blood to taste and it did not even taste like Bill’s blood, which tasted good, but salty.  When Sookie tasted Bill’s blood, she thought it was the stuff of life, but that then, that was something else entirely.

Sookie could feel the world pulsing around her; she could feel the ground under the hotel and the life springing from it.  It was not overwhelming and Sookie knew it would be more awe-inspiring if they were not in a city.

Sookie wondered if Earth always felt like that and she answered Sookie’s thoughts “It feels better away from the city, but it feels good no matter where I am.  In the spring time I can literally feel the flowers blooming, the grass budding, Mother Nature rebuilding after a long winter.”

Sookie continued to drink for quite some time and then she started to feel as though she was slipping off the couch and then suddenly Earth’s arm was gone and Sookie felt Earth inside her just as her back hit the couch.  “Wow,” Sookie whispered as Water moved to where Earth had been mere moments before, and again Sookie heard that crunch and then she was drinking and awed all over again.

As Bill came back to life, he reached over to Sookie’s side of the bed.  He sat up when he felt nothing but cold sheets; in fact once again her side of the bed did not even look slept in and her scent in the room was at least a day old.  Bill heard Sookie in the living room and he assumed she fell asleep on the couch yet again so he got up and grabbed his robe and keycard before he headed for the door.

Sookie knew she must have drifted to sleep at some point because she woke to the feel of fingers stroking through her hair.  When she opened her eyes, Sookie saw Seraphina staring down at her lovingly.  Sookie tried to move but her body felt heavy.  She felt weird and she said as much.

Sera laughed lightly, “It has been some time since my transition but yes I think the word ‘weird’ describes the feeling perfectly.  You will feel weird for a while yet.”

Sookie went to reply but she heard someone moving around in the bedroom, then she heard her name.  _‘Oh God I forgot all about Bill.’_ 

 “Sookie, I had hoped to wake with you beside me?”  Before she could reply to him Bill growled out “Who the Hell are you?”

Seraphina smiled tightly and said, “Hello, Mr.  Compton, my name is Seraphina the Elder; I am a friend of Sookie’s and am currently her guardian.  You would do well to calm yourself before I throw you out of the room.  Sookie cannot be upset right now; she needs calm heads to prevail.  I think…”

“I don’t care what you think.  Sookie is Mine, get away from her before I…” he did not get to finish his sentence before a swift wind literally blew him across the room, as the door opened he was pushed out into the hallway, and the door slammed closed behind him.  In a moment Sera and Sookie heard Bill try to open the door with a keycard, when that did not work he banged loudly on the door screaming about all the things he was going to do to Sera when he got in there.  Their trip to Dallas was showing Sookie a different side of Bill… one she was not sure she liked very much.

Sookie looked up at Sera sleepily.  “I’m sorry, I don’t know why he…”

Sera did not let her finish, “Do not worry about it; he is of no concern to us.”

Eirik felt the sun set as he came to wakefulness suddenly, and he wondered that he slept the whole day away, but then he remembered the events of the morning.

Eirik squeezed his eyes closed to prevent more blood tears from running down his face.  That was when Eirik realized he never lay down on the couch and yet there he was waking up laid out on the couch.  His shirt was still in his hand but his shoes were resting on the floor by the other end of the couch.  _‘That smell, I would know that smell anywhere; Sookie has been in my room.’_

As Eirik looked at his shoes he noticed that his chest was not the bloody mess it was that morning, and he saw the folded washcloth sitting on the table.  _‘My sweet Sookie’_ ; he smiled through the urge to cry.  Her words to Godric that morning rang in his head.  _‘She believes he is in Heaven with God and that God forgives My Maker for his ‘Sins’.’_

Eirik felt a chill go down his spine then he heard Bill growl and ask who someone was…  The distance and walls between them and Eirik muffled the reply, but the voice sounded familiar to Eirik.  He heard a door slam a moment later and the next thing Eirik knew Bill was yelling, “Open this door or I’ll skin you alive when I get in there.  I mean it, let me in, I…”

Eirik thought, _‘Hmm, that sounds more like something I would say, I wonder what has got him so riled up… only one way to find out.’_   He got up, put his shoes back on, and headed for the door without bothering to put his shirt back on.  Bill was standing outside his door in his robe banging on the door.  Eirik smirked and asked, “Lover’s quarrel?”

Bill could hear the smirk from where he was standing so he spun around to face Eirik.  Eirik noted that Bill’s eyes looked a little wild.  Bill paused before opening his mouth to tell Eirik to go to Hell but he stopped himself as he realized Eirik was going to bother him regardless.  He figured that if Eirik was going to bother him, Eirik could at least be useful.

“Eric, there’s some strange woman holding Sookie captive in our room.” 

_‘A ‘strange woman’ is holding Sookie captive?’_   Eirik could hear Sookie’s heart beating calmly, though a little slower than usual, through the door and the little bit of a tie he had with her from the blood he tricked her into drinking told Eirik that she was calm and relaxed, and she was definitely not scared.  Therefore, without much alarm Eirik asked, “A strange woman?  What does she look like?”

Bill scowled at Eirik as he was still wearing that damnable smirk that drove Bill nuts.  “I don’t know, Sookie’s height; pink, purple, blue and blonde hair down to her rear end.  Blue eyes, she actually looks a lot like Sookie…”  

Bill did not get to continue as he was obviously describing a woman that Eirik knew well.

Eirik barked out a laugh then casually rapped his knuckles on the door.  “Sera, it is Eric can you open the door and let me in?”

The door swung open and Sera was standing there with a smile on her face.  “Young Eirik, it has been too long.  I would ask you how you are but I cannot imagine so…  I suppose I should let you in… he can come back in if he promises to be calm and preferably quiet.  Sookie needs her rest… the next 62 hours are critical.”

“My Lady, what is going on?”  Eirik asked as he entered Bill’s hotel room.  Bill quickly followed behind Eirik before the door could close in his face again.

Bill wondered, _‘Young Eric?  How old is this woman if she thinks a thousand year old Vampire is young?  And why is she pronouncing his name funny saying ‘AY-ri hk’ instead of ‘Eric’?  That is equally odd.’_  

Though Bill was being cautious as he followed Eirik into the room he was also listening to every word Eirik and Sera said.  _‘That blasted woman isn’t talking sense, what’s so big about the next almost three days and why does Sookie look so pale, she can’t be well looking like she does.’_

Eirik wondered why 62 hours being critical was slightly familiar to him.  His memory said it was actually 72 hours, which he knew meant whatever Sera and Sookie had done started around 9 AM that morning.

Eirik thought they had obviously done something if that knowing smile on Sera’s face was any indication and her next words confirmed it.  “The Lady Sookie is going through a transformation tonight.  The next 62 hours are very important.  Her safety during these hours is crucial… if anything happens to her while the transformation is still happening she will likely meet her Final Death.”

Bill worriedly thought, _‘ Shit!_ _If she dies, the Queen will kill me, slowly.  Of course, that’s if Russell doesn’t get to me first.  He already made a down payment for the delivery of Sookie to his Kingdom.’_   Russell agreed Bill should follow the Queen’s plan right up until the part where Bill would deliver her to the Queen; instead, he would deliver her to Russell.  _‘But this woman is bad news for those plans, I can feel it.  And what’s that about a transformation?  If she loses her telepathy, I’ll have to give back the money and the Queen will probably torture me for years for not taking better care of her pet.  I need to get Sookie away from Eric and this woman!’_

Eirik’s fangs snapped down as he practically growled, “Transformation?  Is she becoming… like you?” 

Bill thought, _‘Like her?  What the hell is she anyway?  I’ve never felt so much power in one person before, she’s actually pretty scary in terms of the raw power I can feel simmering just beneath her surface.’_

Eirik worded his sentence carefully as he did not know why but he did not want Bill to know what Sera was; something told Eirik that it was imperative that Bill not know what she was.

Eirik heard Sera in his head.  **_‘You are still so wise for one so young.  You are correct, Mr.  Compton must know as little about me_** ** _and Sookie as possible.  I am glad you are here since I have something to discuss with Compton and Sookie will need your strength throughout the conversation.’_**

Bill thought Sera was not answering Eirik as they just stared at each other for a moment.  While they were caught up with each other Bill slid his way, closer to the couch Sookie was laying on.  He thought, _‘If I can just grab her maybe I can get away with her before the woman can catch me, and Eric is so distracted by this woman that he should be easy to get past.’_   Bill reached out his hand to grab hold of Sookie when suddenly he felt power rippling up his arm, _‘God it hurts!’_   His thoughts mirrored his words as he screamed “Fuck that hurts!”  The power dissipated as Bill pulled his hand away from Sookie but his arm still hurt, so he looked down at his hand and saw the tips of his fingers turning to ash.  _‘I’m on fire! **’**_

“Compton you are on fire.”  Eirik said while trying not to laugh his ass off.  He could easily see the force field surrounding the couch that Sookie was peacefully laying on.  _‘Surely Compton can see it too.  If not then he is even weaker than I thought.’_  

Bill tossed some flowers out of a vase sitting on the coffee table and poured the water in it over his hand to stop the fire from spreading.  Eirik continued to chuckle despite his best attempts to behave.

“Mr. Compton, you will not be going anywhere near Lady Sookie,” Sera said in all seriousness.

_‘What the fuck was that?That woman wasn’t even looking at me, so it couldn’t have been her.  It must have been Sookie but she trusts me so why would she set me on fire?’_  Bill could hear Eirik snickering to himself so Bill thought contemptuously, _‘Laugh it up buddy; let’s see you try to get near her.  She doesn’t even like you, never mind trust you.’_

Sookie moaned and without thinking, Eirik moved closer to her, not noticing when he walked right through the force field.  He crouched in front of the couch near her head and softly brushed her hair from her face. 

Bill noticed though and silently screamed, _‘ Wait, what?  He wasn’t zapped or set on fire!  What the fuck is going on here!’_Bill tuned out their conversation while he tried to figure out what was going on; _‘maybe it was that woman after all because Sookie would never trust the Viking over me!’_

Sookie looked slightly uncomfortable, but Eirik sensed no pain through their fledgling link, but he thought it was still best to ask, “Is she in pain Sera?”

“No.  She feels ‘weird’, her word not mine, but she is not in any pain, she will likely feel slightly uncomfortable for a few more hours.”  Eirik could feel Sera’s calmness creeping over him.  That used to annoy him when she did that but right then he was grateful for it.  Sookie was calm; if he got upset, the only effects it would have would be to cause Sookie alarm and upset her peaceful rest.

Sookie’s eyes fluttered open and she looked right into Eirik’s eyes.  “Eric?”  she asked, not even noticing Bill’s growl to himself when Eirik’s name fell from her lips and not his.  “Are you feeling better?  I’m sorry I couldn’t…”

Eirik shushed her quickly, “I am fine.  I do not want you to worry about any of that…  Godric made his choice and we all have to live with that, but I do not want you to think for a single moment that what he did is in any way your fault.  He was over 2,500 years old; he never did anything he did not want to do.  I am not angry with you; in fact I am grateful he was not alone in the end.”  Eirik cleared his throat, “But uh, I will talk to you about that later,” He said as he noticed Bill trying to inch closer to the couch.  Eirik always forgot himself when he was with Sookie; he thought it was a bit off-putting.  _‘I should not have practically forgotten that Compton is in the room and we are definitely not alone!’_

Eirik’s words as Bill moved closer to them confirmed Bill’s suspicion that Godric really did meet the Sun after all; he thought it was too bad Eirik did not join his Maker.

Sera smiled down at Sookie and Eirik and then asked, “Eirik will you help me watch over her until the transformation is complete.  We can take turns guarding her while the other goes to eat and when you finally die for the day I will watch over her until you wake and then I can get some sleep.”

“Since when do you sleep?  I do not think you have slept more than a couple of hours the whole time I have known you.”  Eirik asked curiously.  Sera once told him that she did not need to sleep, so he wondered why she was planning to sleep the next day.

“I do not usually have to sleep, but I did give a large quantity of my blood to Sookie today.”  Eirik’s fangs popped out again at the thought of Sookie drinking anyone’s blood other than his, even if it was Sera’s blood.

Bill thought contemptuously, _‘That Bitch fed My Sookie her blood?  She had no right!  And Sookie agreed?’_  Bill decided immediately that he would kill Sera for the slight the first opportunity he got!  He also decided to think of some painful way to make Sookie regret betraying him.  Focusing back on Eirik and Sera, he found them staring at each other.

Something occurred to Eirik, but he did not want to say it in front of Bill, so he thought it at Sera, **_‘The Elemental usually leaves this plane after donating her blood does she not?’_**

**_‘Yes, but even if this were a normal case the Spirit Elemental is capable of giving its gift over and over without leaving this plane, in fact I will have to physically let go of this plane when I choose to leave it.’_** Sera thought back to him.

Their seeming silence angered Bill the longer it lasted so he began asking questions, “What the Hell is going on?  Eric who is this woman and what the fuck is wrong with Sookie?  Sookie drank her blood freely?  She had no right!  And what Fucking transformation is she talking about anyway?  Sookie’s awake and not dead so she’s not turning into a Vampire, so what the Hell is…”

Eirik stood up and interrupted Bill before he could continue, “…Going on?  Well, there are many hundreds, if not thousands, of types of Supernatural Creatures in existence and apparently Sookie is turning into one of them, though I am unsure what kind,” Eirik paused then continued his lie, “Sera is not open to discussing the finer details of her existence with anyone, not even me.  Therefore, I am afraid I do not know the details but I do know that yelling will do three things.  1.) It will disturb Sookie, and I do not think you really want that any more than I do.  2.) It will anger Sera; again, this is something you do not want to do And 3.) It will deeply anger me if you do either of the first two, which will be even worse for you.  Perhaps you should go find someone to eat.”  Eirik looked down his nose at Bill and gave Bill his best sneer.

“I’m not leaving her with either of…”

Sera interrupted him, “Actually before he leaves for his dinner I think he should explain to me why I should not let you kill him for taking Sookie’s virginity under false pretenses?”  It is her turn to sneer at Bill.  “I know all about Sophie-Anne and her plans, she is crazy, but you do not have that excuse and what is this I have heard that you are talking to Russell about giving Sookie to him for the right price?  Have you no shame?”

Bill panics, _‘ Shit!  __How the fuck does she know?  She even knows about Russell!’_

Sookie vaguely heard Sera talking to Eirik and Bill.  Her stomach dropped to her feet, so to speak, as Sera said Bill took Sookie’s virginity under false pretenses.  Sookie wondered, _‘What false pretenses?  And who is Sophie-Anne and what does she have to do with me sleeping with Bill.’_

The name Russell was familiar to Sookie though as she had heard Bill talking to someone named Russell on the phone.  So then, she wondered if Bill always walked away after saying ‘Hello Russell’ because he was trying to sell her to Russell. 

Sookie did not want to believe any of Sera’s words but her gut was still telling her that Sera only wanted what was best for Sookie so she reluctantly began accepting that perhaps everything she had with Bill was based on lies.  Sookie hastened to pay closer attention to their conversation to fill in some of the blanks she still had.

Eirik’s fangs popped out and he quietly roared as he interrupted Sera.  “Sera what the Hell are you talking about now?  What does Sophie-Anne have to do with Sookie and what do you mean he took…”  Eirik paused and Bill could see the wheels turning in his head as Eirik pieced it all together.

Eirik growled again as he turned towards Bill and took a menacing step forward.  Bill quickly took two steps back as he thought, _‘This is bad…  Eric will kill me!’_

Eirik intentionally made his voice low, calm, and even as he told Bill, “Compton, did Sophie-Anne send you to acquire Sookie for her Court?  Did you sleep with Sookie as part of your plan to bring her to Sophie-Anne’s Court?  Are you planning to betray Sookie to Sophie or Russell?”  Eirik took another step closer to Bill and he backed up again, only this time Bill backed up into the end table and it fell over with a decent crash.

The noise roused Sookie from her thoughts and then she softly called Eirik’s name.  “Eric?”  Bill sneered at them as Eirik quickly stepped back to Sookie and crouched down beside her again.  “I am here Sookie, go back to sleep.  We will talk when you are more awake.”

“But you’re angry I can feel it… why do I feel it?”

Bill nearly choked as she spoke; Bill thought she should not be able to feel Eirik yet…   _‘They never mutually exchanged, he hasn’t even had her blood and yet she can feel him, I know, know without a doubt that she cannot feel me yet!’_ 

Bill was lost in thought about the why’s of that when Sookie spoke again.  “Did I do something?”

She looked ready to burst into tears so Eirik rushed to reassure Sookie.  “No Princess, you have not done anything to make me angry, quite the contrary, you never cease to please me.”  He smiled at her, trying to calm her down.  Eirik knew from hearing Sera’s experiences with making Elementals that strong emotions could cause power fluxes, especially during the transformation, so as Sera had said numerous times throughout the years, ‘calmer heads needed to prevail’.

Bill thought, _‘I really hate this guy!’_  Eirik smiled at Sookie, trying to calm her down, as he gently stroked her bangs out of her face.  _‘He really needs to stop touching My property’_, and then Bill recognized that opportunity for what it was… a chance to slip out of the room unnoticed while Eirik dealt with Sookie so Bill slid closer and closer to the hallway door. 

Eirik continued to stroke Sookie’s forehead and the side of her face lightly as he noticed Bill sliding closer and closer to the hallway door.  Eirik made the quick decision that he would kill Bill later after Sookie was safe, after she finished changing and could not hurt herself.  Decision made, Eirik let Bill slither out of the suite like the snake he was…   _‘I will get more information from Sera and then we can plan our next move in regards to Compton and Sophie-Anne and Russell, cannot forget Russell, Goddess just thinking about it makes me want to rip Compton’s head from his shoulders.’_

“Where’s Bill going?”  Sookie softly asked as the door closed.

“He is just going to get something to eat, probably a ‘True Blood’ since he is mainstreaming and all.”  Eirik tried, but he could not keep the sneer off his face.  “I mean he does not even drink the good bottled stuff.  If I have to drink it bottled I drink ‘Royalty’ or even ‘Royalty Blended’, but definitely not that fake crap ‘True Blood’ is made of!  I mean any Vampire worth his weight in gold would not be caught…”  Eirik wondered if it was childish to cross his fingers and pray for the diversion to work.

“What’s ‘Royalty Blended’?”  Sookie softly interrupted him.

_‘Ah Success.’_   Eirik smiled and replied.  ‘“It is a premium blend of synthetic blood and the real blood of actual European Royalty.’  The only thing better than ‘Royalty Blended’ is ‘Royalty’; it has the bare minimum of preservatives and is absolutely delicious, though probably not as good as you taste.”  He flashed his most panty-dropping smile as he commented on how good Sookie would taste and his smile broadened as he watched a luscious blush slowly rise up from her chest to her cheeks while he realized she was still wearing her fetching red and white checkered dress from the previous night.

Eirik was lost in thought about where else that beautiful blush might be and how easily he could get Sookie out of that dress when Sera interrupted his musings.  “I know you just met me Sookie, but I have a suggestion that you may not like, but I think it will protect you.  Moreover, I want you to hear me out, but try to remain calm because extreme emotions can cause power fluxes during the transformation.  Okay?”

Sookie just nodded her head with her eyes looking trustfully up at Sera.  Eirik wondered if Elemental Blood caused the same sense of trust that Vampire Blood did.

Sera continued slowly, “Sookie I need to talk to you about Bill.” 

Eirik thought with some exasperation, _‘Well shit, so much for changing the subject.’_

Sera continued undaunted by Eirik’s scowl or his thoughts, “Sookie, has Bill ever told you what drinking Vampire blood will do to a Human?”  Sookie shook her head slowly, but Eirik and Sera could both see that Sookie was waking up and paying closer attention. 

Eirik wondered, _‘I wonder how many times Sookie has had Bill’s blood.’_

“I’ve had Bill’s blood three times or four if you count before Doctor Ludwig treated me and after as two separate events.”  Sookie answered Eirik’s unspoken question. 

Eirik’s mind shouted, _‘Shit!’_ before he thought at her hard **_‘Can you hear me Sookie?’_**

“Of course I can hear you you’re talkin…” she stopped as she realized that he was in fact not talking.  “Shit!”  Her eyes got huge and she started to shake violently, “I’m sorry I won’t do it again, Please don’t kill me!”  Eirik could see that she was getting more upset by the moment, so he rushed to calm her, unfortunately, he did not do it fast enough and a rainstorm broke out in the living room.

As everything in the room became soaked through Eirik whispered to Sookie, “Shh, Princess, I am not going to kill you…  I would not, believe it or not, hurt you for anything in the world.  Shh, it is ok, calm down Sookie.”  She was hyperventilating now and Eirik was not sure how to help her, so he did the one thing he knew would grab her attention.  He kissed her.  It started out soft and sweet, but then she responded to his tongue sliding across her lower lip and Eirik silently cheered as she opened her mouth and let him into her warm cavern.  He slipped his tongue along hers, then ghosted over the roof of her mouth, along her teeth, and then back to her tongue where they fought for dominance.  Finally, he pulled his tongue out of her mouth to give her a chance to breathe but her face followed his as he pulled away and her tongue was now tracing his lips.  _‘Praise Freyja!’_  He opened his mouth to Sookie’s insistent tongue and she traced the same path Eirik did in her mouth, only her tongue got caught on one of his fangs as they snapped down giving him his first taste of Sookie’s magnificent blood.  _‘Hmm, Faery, no wonder she smells so delightful…  I wonder if Compton has any idea the treasure he had.’_

This time Sookie was the one to pull back and her teeth popped over her lower lip as she worried it between her teeth as if she was worried about Eirik’s reaction.  He thought, _‘Maybe she is.’_   Therefore, he smiled the most reassuring smile he had and as he was smiling at her, the indoor rain trickled to a drizzle and then stopped completely.  He thought she was awfully cute sitting there soaking wet from head to toe.  The obvious shape of her hard nipples standing at attention through the wet material of her dress was incredibly enticing.

Mesmerized by Sookie’s blue eyes Eirik saw nothing but their blue depths until Sera cleared her throat and giggled.  “I realize the passion between you two is hard to control, believe me I know.”  She said that last part as though wistfully remembering good times, and Eirik glared at her until she said, “But I need you both to focus, we only have a few hours at most to figure out what we are going to do.  The wolves are circling, so to speak.”

That broke Eirik out of his reverie.  ‘Sookie is in danger, I might be as well if Bill was really sent to acquire Sookie for the Queen then she purposely went behind my back which cannot bode well for me or mine.’ 

“Okay, so Sera, start at the beginning and go from there… and try to remember that Sookie is not used to the callousness of the Supernatural World, okay?”

He looked at Sera meaningfully as he thought to her ** _.  ‘If this is what I think it is you need to tread carefully, she thinks she loves him, even if it is because of all his blood inside her.  She does not know what his blood has done to her.’_**

Sookie spoke up, “Uh can we get back to what Bill’s blood has done to me.  He was never very clear on what it does and the first time I drank it I didn’t really have a choice and he never wants to talk about it now.

He said your blood will cause me to have dreams, sexy dreams, about you, but I had dreams of Bill before I drank his blood.”  She blushed as she paused and scrunched up her nose as though she was thinking about something hard, then she grimaced and continued, “granted in the earlier dreams that first night he just wanted to drink my blood.  The sex part came after the blood exchange, oh GOD, I never even thought of that when he said what your blood would do… why didn’t he tell me that his blood would do that?”

She looked to be on the verge of tears, so Eirik stood up, picked her up and then sat down with her in his lap as he shifted her slightly and slipped his arms more firmly around her.  She did not protest so that told him how upset she truly was.  “Shh, Sookie, It is alright, I have you, but there is more that our blood does and you have a right to know.”

He paused as he waited for her to settle a bit then he continued, “It also breeds attraction and promotes positive feelings towards the vampire whose blood you have drunk.  The amount of my blood you have had is so small that it would at most give you sexy dreams and make you feel a little less negatively about me.  However, with the amount of blood you had the two times I actually know about you drinking Bill’s blood, well, it would not necessarily give you false feelings of love but it would be more likely to amplify the least significant feelings in you towards him.  You could possibly misinterpret the tiniest bits of curiosity and lust amplified greatly as the beginnings of love.  Also if he had an ulterior motive as we believe and the amplification did not get him the results he wanted he could use his blood inside you to try to control you and mislead you into believing you had genuine feelings for him.”

Sookie gasped and grabbed hold of Eirik’s arms around her chest.  “Is none of what I feel for him real?  Why wouldn’t he tell me what his blood would do after the first time I drank it?”

“It is not so much what the blood does but how much control he has over his blood and how susceptible you are to his influence.  I believe he did in fact have ulterior motives and that is why he purposely chose not to inform you about what his blood could truly do.”

Eirik interrupted himself with two questions he had had floating around in his head for a while, “Sookie what were the circumstances of your drinking his blood the first time and have you ever Mutually Exchanged?”  He held his breath even though he did not need to breathe waiting for her answer.  He dreaded her answer.

“I was supposed to meet Bill in the parking lot at Merlotte’s after work the night after I met him.  He was late and the drainers I saved him from the night before tried to kill me.  They would have succeeded if Bill hadn’t shown up when he did and, well, he killed them and then took me into the woods and offered me his blood so I wouldn’t die. 

I didn’t want to drink it at first but he forced it on me and then once I really got a taste of it I couldn’t get enough.  I wasn’t ready to die so I’ve overlooked him sort of forcing it on me without giving it much thought other than that I didn’t want to die and it definitely saved my life.”  She paused and thought over everything that happened that night then finished the story, “While I was healing he licked the blood off my forehead, does that count as a Mutual Blood Exchange?”

Sookie looked worried, and Eirik thought she should be.  He had known Bill Compton since shortly after Bill became a Vampire, being late would personally offend Bill’s anal-retentive obsessive-compulsive ways.  The younger Vampire was always early even when it was not to his advantage.  Eirik was not sure he should tell Sookie that though.

Across from the couple Sera scoffed and huffed, “That Vampire is never late… he is too OCD to ever allow himself to show up late somewhere, Eirik do you remember that time he showed up early and nearly…”

Eirik abruptly cut her off, “Now is really not the time for that story, Sera.”

She blushed, “Right, sorry… anyways, have you had any other Mutual Exchanges Sookie?  This is important so think about it before you answer.”

Sookie had tears in her eyes again as she realized Bill had possibly, probably, set her up to be attacked or at the very least did nothing to stop it.  She dragged her thoughts to the matter at hand, promising herself a good cry over it all later, before she took several deep breaths and then grew still as her mind wandered over every encounter, she had with Bill during which he drank her blood.  Eirik could almost hear her thinking over all the times Bill had drunk her blood, trying to see if she had any of his at the same time.  Finally, she turned her face to look into Eirik’s eyes and said, “No I think that’s the only time we both had blood.

What’s a Mutual Blood Exchange do that’s different than just me drinking his blood or him drinking mine separately?”

Eirik thought _‘She is intelligent beyond what those stupid vermin in her town think of her.  I can see why Sera chose to give her Immortality; Sookie deserves it more than most.’_

“Well, three Mutual Blood Exchanges forms a Blood Bond, which is permanent.  He should have told you even if he was lost in the moment when he licked your blood off you; afterwards he should have told you that it had started a Blood Bond.

Goddess, I know he is slime, but this is underhanded even for him.  Also, if what Sera told me earlier is true then he was purposefully trying to trick you, especially if you take into account what Sera said about his OCD tendencies.  I am fairly certain you will not believe me, but I really am sorry you got dragged into this, you deserve better.”

“I believe you; I can feel your sorrow over it.  You never did answer me when I asked why I could feel you.  That shouldn’t happen right?”  Eirik could feel her shoulders tense more and more as she spoke.

He tightened his hold on her fractionally and whispered to her, “Relax Sookie, I have you, I will do everything I can to help you.  You are not alone, not anymore.”

She stiffened even more at that, which was the exact opposite of what he was aiming for.  Then she spoke and Eirik was confused, “Oh My God Sera!  That’s what you said… you said I wouldn’t be alone ever again, because I’d have my Mate and our family, I…  Is… what…  I…”

Eirik started to rock her hoping to calm her a bit.  Then Sera started to speak and he felt Sookie start to tremble in his arms.  “Yes, Sookie, that is what I was talking about and yes, Eirik is who I was talking about.”

Sookie grew suddenly still at those words and then stuttered quite loudly “B-but I’m with Bill!”

Sera shrugged and gently pointed out, “I think we have established that you got involved with him under false pretenses so you should not feel beholden to him.  Also, I want you to think about the first time you saw Eirik; what was the first thing that popped into your head?”

“You mean besides wondering who the Sex God was.”  Eirik chuckled at that and could feel her blood rush to the surface of her skin as a full out blush broke out across her face and chest.  He could even feel it in her back, _‘Goddess I wonder where else that blush goes?’_ Then he heard what she said next and smiled, “I thought he looked like home.  But that’s just silly little girl romantic blabber.”  Sookie paused, and then started again, “Isn’t it?”

Sera smiled lovingly at both of them, “That my Child is Fate at work.  Now to answer your earlier questions about feeling Eirik’s emotions, if you had Mutually Exchanged Blood three times then I would expect both of you to be able to feel the other.  However, with you only having one little bit of his blood and him having none of yours, well, honestly I have only ever known of that happening once a very long time ago.”

Sookie sounded impatient as she abruptly asked, “Well who was it that had that happen and are they still around and what did it mean?”

Eirik watched as Sera smiled a smile that he only ever saw her smile at or because of Leifr, her Mate.  Sookie thought the smile was similar to how her grandparents or parents looked at each other back when Sookie was a child.  Eirik interrupted Sookie’s thoughts and interjected before Sera could answer, “I know that smile; it was you and your mate, Leifr.”  Sera did not respond verbally but she nodded her head slowly.

“So,” Sookie started to say something and stopped for a moment as though she was processing everything, “What you’re implying is that the fact that I can feel Eric after just a little of his blood only confirms your belief that he’s my Mate?”

Eirik did not think Sookie realized it but she was pulling him progressively closer to her, almost burrowing into his chest the further into the discussion they got.  Honestly, he was pulling her closer to himself as well.  He was shocked to hear Sera basically declare without actually saying the words that he and Sookie were Mates.  He had pretty much given up on ever finding his Mate.  Sera always told him she had visions of his Mate and that he would meet her when the time was right but Eirik had actually started to give up hope of ever finding her after more than 1,200 years and now there he sat with his Mate in his arms.  He could not name all the feelings he was having in that moment, but he needed to focus; there was a very real threat to his Mate.  He thought, _‘maybe more than one, so I need to deal with that now and revel in having found my Mate later, after the dust settles.’_

**________________________________________________________________**

 


	2. I Will Stand By You

**Revised 2015-01-06**

**________________________________________________________________**

**It’s Elemental**

**By Lilly Gray & Robin McAllister**

**© 2011-2015 Sarah A. Higgins & Robin McAllister**

**Chapter 002**

**I Will Stand By You**

**________________________________________________________________**

“So,” Sookie started to say but stopped for a moment as she realized what exactly Sera was saying, “What you’re implying is that the fact that I can feel Eric after just a little of his blood only confirms your belief that he’s my Mate?”

Sera smiled again, Sookie loathed admitting it but she was starting to hate Sera’s smiles.  Sookie thought it was as if Sera knew all the answers but was only willing to share bits and pieces.  It was somewhat annoying in Sookie’s opinion and Sera’s verbal response was just as annoying, “Yes, that is pretty much what I am saying, which brings us to the solution I have for your problems with Bill, which are far greater than you think.  What I am about to tell you will undoubtedly hurt you, but you must know the truth. 

First things first, are you aware of the Vampire power structure?”

Sookie took a deep breath to steady herself and leaned her body more firmly against Eirik’s bare chest before she nodded as she told Sera, “I know about sheriffs and areas.”

Sera nodded back at Sookie, “Ok then.  You need to know that there are territories; the Supernatural Government divides these territories into Areas.  As you know sheriffs rule those areas.  However, what you might not realize is that kings and queens rule over the sheriffs and those larger territories. 

Each country that your government acknowledges is usually a Vampire kingdom except for the larger countries like the United States, Russia, China, India, etc.  Those are broken up into smaller kingdoms.  A country can either be one kingdom or have as many as 50 or more kingdoms within it… the US has a about 35 or 40; I have not sat down recently to count them because there have been some major shifts in power lately so some smaller kingdoms have been absorbed into larger ones. 

The New England States, for example, were once individual kingdoms, now they are one big kingdom, minus Connecticut, known as the New England Territories.  The Gotham Territories also includes several states, including Connecticut, which will probably start a war with New England’s Queen since she has been slowly consolidating her power and growing her territory.

The point of this brief lesson is that many monarchs are trying to find any advantage they can to avoid another overzealous monarch from taking them over.  The New England states were part of six kingdoms and now they only belong to two and four of those other kings and queens have met their Final Deaths.” 

Sera paused to let Sookie absorb what she had said thus far then continued her tale.  “Now, your kingdom, Louisiana, is ruled by Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq.  Before Katrina, Louisiana was one of the strongest kingdoms in the country, but the hurricane significantly weakened Sophie-Anne’s powerbase and finances so she is trying to find any advantage she can to keep stronger kings or queens from trying to overthrow her.  Nevada, Arkansas, and Mississippi are just a few who have all been making some noise about Sophie-Anne not handling the rebuilding of New Orleans properly, so it is a safe bet that they are all a threat to the queen. 

The sorts of advantages the queen is looking for are Faeries to feed from to allow her to walk in the sunlight, Psychics and Clairvoyants to tell her the future, Empaths and Telepaths to tell her what the people around her are truly thinking and feeling, and powerful Witches to wield their magicks against Sophie-Anne’s foes. 

Word has it Sophie-Anne has even enlisted the help of the most powerful Witch in the country, a woman by the name of Hallow.  Now a Telepath of your caliber would be a pretty feather in Sophie-Anne’s cap.”

Sookie interrupted Sera to ask, “But I can’t hear Vampires, how am I going to be an advantage towards fending off a Vampire king if I can’t hear him?”

Eirik was the one who answered Sookie, “He undoubtedly has humans, Shifters and Weres that work for him and are part of his retinue.  Those creatures might think something helpful for the queen to know, plus, the few Telepaths I have known of through the years have either had their Telepathy increase with age or they have been illegally turned and…”

Sookie froze at that statement and she felt Eirik shift her so he could look into her eyes, “Sookie you are already on your way to being Immortal without becoming a Vampire.  Your appeal to Sophie-Anne and others and their likely inclination to turn you regardless of the legalities of such an act are probably part of the reason Sera chose now to come to you with her offer.  Once the 72 hours are done, it will be impossible to turn you into a Vampire… and Sookie, I promise you I will keep you safe for those 72 hours.  I will keep you safe after that too, but for the next 72 hours I am not letting you out of my sight until I have no other choice whether you want me to or not…

I have known Sera for more than 1,225 years; I trust her to know what she is doing.  If she thinks this is what needs to happen then I will do everything in my power to see it happen.  Even if I did not have, well even if you were not you, I would help her see her goal to completion. 

However, I do know you and that just makes me even more determined to see you to safety, but you have to remember that the queen does not know that you are transitioning into an Elemental, which is why Sera and I have not been mentioning it in front of Bill.  Sera has intel that says the queen ordered Bill to acquire you for her.  I do not know the details, but I know Sophie-Anne well enough to know she would up her game, so to speak, if she knew her window of opportunity to Turn you was quickly closing.  I know you do not trust me fully but I need you to trust me when I tell you that you cannot trust Bill with any information about what you are becoming.  It is too dangerous for you until the transformation is over.  If you still want to tell him when you are fully immortal then I will not stand in your way but until your transformation is complete you must not tell him or anyone really.”

Eirik paused and Sera picked up where he left off, “Eirik I doubt she will want to tell him a thing.  Sookie, I am so sorry but I know beyond a reasonable doubt that Sophie-Anne ordered Bill to find you and assess your abilities.  After he informed the queen that the rumors of your abilities were true she ordered him to seduce you and marry you.  Then he was bring you to her Court where she would Blood Bond you to her and then illegally Turn you.  Since the Supernatural Government and the Council, which I will tell you about later, have forbidden the Turning of a Telepath, Sophie-Anne plans to claim she did not know what you were until after you were Turned.  I heard the queen herself speak of these plans, Sookie, so I know it is true.”

Sookie still felt in her gut that Sera was trustworthy and only wanted Sookie to remain safe, and Sookie also realized that despite everything he had done that angered or scared her Eirik had never made a move to harm her.  In fact, when the bomb went off in Godric’s nest Eirik’s first instinct had been to cover Sookie with his body and shield her from the blast as much as he could.  His underhandedness only came into play after he knew she was safe.  Ultimately, all of that led Sookie to trust both Sera and Eirik so she took their words as truth and sadly and a bit exasperatedly asked, “How does the queen of Louisiana even know I exist?”  She asked the question to no one in particular.

“Sookie, do you know a woman named Hadley Delahoussaye?”  Sera asked her softly.  It seemed to Sookie as though Sera feared speaking Hadley’s name too loudly lest she upset Sookie again.

Sookie nodded to the older woman but said nothing, waiting for Sera to continue, “Hadley is a favorite pet of the queen’s.  The queen plans to Turn Hadley as a reward for her information about you though that will likely only happen when Sophie-Anne successfully has possession of you.”

Sookie felt her tears break the surface of her eyes and begin trailing down her cheeks as she thought, _‘Okay that hurts… my own cousin, my flesh and blood, sold me out for the flimsy promise of immortality.’_  Sookie was having trouble drawing in breath but then she heard Eirik’s voice in her ear again throwing her a lifeline.  “I got you Sookie, they cannot hurt you.  I am definitely older and more powerful than the queen’s pet and I am a little more than twice the queen’s age. 

The only reason I am not a king is because I would really rather not have to deal with the politics.  As it is, I am a sheriff merely to avoid having to answer to most Vampires.  I answer only to the queen, but she knows I am stronger than she is.  If I link you to me with a Blood Bond, she will not risk going after you but that would require three Mutual Blood Exchanges.  Other Vampires, no matter their age or standing within our hierarchy, cannot interfere with a Blood Bonded couple.

I can stop her before she gets started but I need your permission.  I am not Bill; I will not force a bond on you.”  Sookie looked at him and started to mention that he did just that, but he stopped her with a too brief kiss to her lips then he continued his explanation.  “I know I tricked you into taking my blood and creating a slight tie between us but it is not a Bond and I honestly thought you knew what it would do to you.  I was not above helping myself out a little where you are concerned. 

However, the tie I tricked you into forming with me is tenuous and it is not permanent or even long lasting, it will fade.  Mutual Blood Exchanges fade slowly, over time, much slower than what I did, but the quantity of the blood you have had from Bill will make it take much longer to fade.  The only way to get rid of the link it caused before it naturally fades is to Blood Bond to someone else and that only works if you have not had the full three Mutual Exchanges.  I would not force your hand into doing something permanent or even long lasting. 

My blood will be out of your system in about a month’s time.  Bill’s on the other hand will take at least three months but probably the better part of a year.  If you have had, even more of his blood than I think it could take even longer. 

I figured a little temporary help would not hurt, but it would quickly fade if you did not have my blood again.  I was, and am, fairly certain that I will not be able to trick you into drinking my blood a second time.”  He smiled at Sookie as he said those words.

“Damn straight Buster!”She replied firmly.

“Buster?  Buster?My name is Eirik or Eric, you may call me whichever of these pleases you, and while there are many other things you can call me; Lover, Sex God, Yours, buster is not one of them.”  He said it completely straight faced, which of course caused Sookie to burst out laughing immediately.  Eirik smiled that sexy smile at her again and she just laughed harder.  It felt good to laugh for a moment but then Sookie remembered that she had very real problems that she needed to deal with in a timely fashion.

_‘God, how did life get so fucked up so fast?  Does Eric really want to Blood Bond to me or does he feel obligated?’_ As Sookie went to voice her concerns she saw Sera smile that annoying smile again, _‘damn nosey Telepath’_. 

“Eric, do you… do you want to Blood Bond to me or are you just offering out of obligation?”

Eirik narrowed his eyes at her and, after taking a deep breath to settle himself, very firmly stated, “I absolutely want to Blood Bond to you, I thought I had been clear that I want you.”  He lightly poked his finger at her heart as he said ‘you’ then cupped her cheek in his huge hand as he continued, “Why else would I come up with over 20 reasons to need your Telepathic Services in the last three months?  Do you think a Vampire my age cannot figure out what the humans in his employ are up to without a Telepath?  My relationship with Sera notwithstanding, I have survived and thrived for over a millennium without having a Telepath on call.  I have been making up reasons to spend time with you simply because I like you and want you to be Mine.  Not for a distraction either, I want you permanently.  I want that to be very clear right now.

I have fantasized about Blood Bonding to you but I was not sure the opportunity would ever present itself because of your feelings for Bill.”  Whenever Eirik mentioned Bill’s name he sounded somewhat sad and maybe a little angry too.  Sookie wondered why that was.

Eirik paused and took another deep breath as he closed his eyes.  A moment later his eyes popped open and met Sookie’s eyes as he told her, “That is part of why I tricked you into drinking my blood; I wanted you to like me too; as much as I like you.  As I said earlier, the time for tricking is past and now it is your decision to make, but please never doubt that I want you, I…  I feel for you.  I do not know what exactly those feelings are as I have been, well, wary of examining them if I was never going to win your heart, but I do have very strong feelings for you…”

He paused again, taking another deep breath Sookie knew he did not actually need, before he somewhat slightly nodded his head to himself and continued his thought.  “I am going to be very frank and far more honest than I am used to being with any one not part of my immediate family because I respect you and I realize brutal honesty is what you both want and need from me.  So…  I think, strange as this may sound coming from me, I think…  I could love you… someday, someday soon.” 

That declaration caused Sookie’s recently dry tears to start spilling down her cheeks again.  Eirik’s eyes widened at the sight of her tears and he leaned in to lick one tear trail then the other, “Please do not cry, I did not mean to upset you.  I…”

Sookie closed the distance between their faces and kissed him quickly, “I’m not upset, I’m happy.  They are tears of joy.  No one but Bill has ever said those kinds of things to me.

Given what I now know about our involvement I must say I’m rather upset that he professed his love for me when it’s becoming glaringly obvious he was lying through his teeth.  I can physically feel your sincerity though so I know you’re not lying to me but I’m scared.  Forever is a long time, especially when I might be permanently attached to someone who is usually an ass around me.” 

She smiled slightly to soften the blow of her words, “I don’t really know you, the real you, I only know the Eric that’s the big bad sheriff and the you that loves your Maker, but I don’t know anything else about you.  I…”

Sera cleared her throat, “not to interrupt but would it be possible to take Sookie’s things and bring her to another room; one that Compton does not have access to and you can continue this conversation there?  I fear he may return soon and I do not think it is in our best interest to have a scene with him. 

Especially you Sookie, I know we keep saying this, but extreme emotions can cause fluxes in power, which could accidently hurt you or someone else.  Nobody got hurt the last time.  However, what would happen if a fireball erupted in the room next time?  You are turning into a creature that can control all five elements with just a whim so caution is necessary. 

There is no guarantee the next time will be like what happened when you were upset earlier and a harmless rainstorm sprung from the ceiling, complete with wind.  It could be much worse and far more dangerous.”  Sera laughed softly at the mention of the indoor storm and so did Sookie, despite the seriousness of Sera’s warning what happened last time was funny in Sookie’s opinion, well except for the part of her that was now cold and wet, but overall it was pretty funny.  Sookie did take Sera’s warning to heart though and promised herself she would do her best to stay calm for the foreseeable future.

The door to Jessica’s room opened, and Sookie realized they had forgotten all about the girl.  Jessica poked her head out and cautiously said, “Uh I heard yelling.  I waited so y’all could sort it out without me butting in, but is it okay if Hoyt and I come out now?”

Sookie looked at Eirik who looked at Sera.  Sera tilted her head and then walked up to Jessica, “If I may touch you to determine just what you know and how involved you are in Compton’s schemes I will be better able to answer that question.”

Jessica stepped completely into the room followed closely by Hoyt who smiled at Sookie as Jessica placed her hand in Sera’s hand.  Sera stood there, presumably sorting through all of Jessica’s memories.  A few minutes later Sera stepped back and, smiled as, she let go of Jessica. 

“Child none of this is your fault, you are a newborn and you unfortunately had no say in who your Maker was.  According to your memories any slight you think you committed against Sookie is a direct result of the fact that you are a newborn with quickly fluctuating emotions and urges for which your previous life left you wholly unprepared.  I promise the neglect you have been suffering at Compton’s hands will end soon and the universe will right itself and give you what you so richly need.  Furthermore, at the risk of speaking for Sookie, she in no way blames you for any of this.”  Sookie was nodding emphatically as Sera turned her smile on Eirik and Sookie before telling them, “Jessica is deeply loyal to Sookie and knows nothing of any of Compton’s plans, or the queen’s either.  She heard enough of our conversation that I know from her personal thoughts that if she had known what Bill was up to she would have warned Sookie as quickly as possible since in her words, ‘Sookie’s been way nicer to her than Bill has.’”

Jessica nodded just as emphatically as Sookie had and said, “I totally woulda told you.  He’s mean to me in private but I never saw him be that way with you so I just figured he was different with you, and his behavior towards me was a result of his resentment of having had to Turn me in the first place.”

Sookie saw Sera tap her watch so Eirik shifted and smiled at Sookie and Jessica as he asked, “Sookie, will you, Jessica, her friend, and Sera do me the honor of coming to stay in my suite for the remainder of your 72 hours, I promise to behave myself.”  Sookie gave him a doubtful look and he chuckled before he continued, “well mostly anyway.” 

Everyone chuckled at that, and Sookie marveled at the easy feelings between herself and Eirik after so much strife and with that thought came her decision.  “I can’t speak for Sera, or Jessica and Hoyt but I would love to move out of this room and as far away from Bill Compton as I can and I must say my current company’s not so bad, now that you’ve mellowed out some.”  She giggled at the look on his face when she told him he had mellowed out.

Sera interrupted Sookie’s giggle fest.  “Not to be a drag, but we should get moving, my instincts are screaming that we need to be out of this room sooner rather than later.”

Once Sera finished speaking, Eirik stood up while taking Sookie with him, which caused her to giggle more.  He placed her on her feet and tapped her bottom as he said, “How many bags do you have with you?  Get your things repacked and I will carry your stuff to my room.  Sera can stay with you while I go back and forth.”  Sookie just stood there giggling.  “What is so funny?”  He huffed.

“How many bags do you think I have, Buster?”  Eirik narrowed his eyes at the name as she answered him in between giggles.  “I only have the one regular bag, a garment bag and my toiletry bag.  I can carry the garment and toiletry bags while you carry the other one.” 

She was still giggling when Eirik thought, _‘I shall have to endeavor to make her giggle more often as it makes her eyes sparkle and her whole face light up.’_

“The only women I have ever traveled with have been Pam, Sera and Godric’s sister Irina, and they all bring everything they might need, just in case.”

Sookie and Jessica both giggled again.  Eirik decided he really liked that sound from Sookie; it was, in his opinion, almost like little bells tinkling.  Sookie asked, "They would even bring a hair dryer camping?”

He playfully glared at them all as they laughed and told them rather honestly, “Pam would not be caught dead sleeping outside or in the ground unless it was a last resort.  Sera?  Hmmm, she might.  She does like to look her best after all, and Irina is worse than Pam; she would be deeply offended even by the mere suggestion that she spend time resting anywhere that is not a five star hotel or a mansion.”

They laughed a minute more as Sookie said, “So I shouldn’t invite any of them camping then?  Good to know.”  Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Eirik on the cheek before running into the bedroom to get her things ready.  As she went into the other room, he noticed that the protective shield around her had expanded to include Sera and himself.

Eirik turned to Jessica and told her, “I will allow you to come with us, but if your Maker orders you to harm Sookie, which is entirely possible, I will do whatever is necessary to protect her.”

“I wouldn’t hurt Sookie, I swear!”

Eirik sighed and quickly added, “I know you would not want to hurt her but if your Maker gives you a command it would be impossible to disobey, at least not without being debilitated by pain.  Has he not taught you this?”

She shook her head no, so as Eirik cursed Bill Compton’s severe incompetence as a Maker he told her, “He should have and I will have words with him about his not teaching you even the most basic things regarding being a Vampire.  However, for the time being if you are okay with the possibility that I might have to harm or end you to keep Sookie safe then I will allow you to come with us. 

Your other option is to stay here and hope Bill continues to ignore you, but if you stay here know that I will be wary of you if you change your mind as I will wonder if Bill did in fact give you a command.”

Jessica’s eyes were wide as he spoke but she was quick to respond, “I wanna stay with Sookie.  I think Bill is more likely to forget I exist so he might not think to try to have me harm her for him, but I’m willing to risk being hurt myself if it means sticking with her.  She stuck with me when I needed her so it’s only fair I do the same now that she might need me. 

Real friends stick around even when it gets tough and I want to return Sookie’s friendship fully.  As I said, she stuck by my side when the going got tough so I can’t in good conscience do any less for her.  Besides, I like Sookie as a person and I can’t stand Bill so if I have to risk my safety to be with one of them it’s gonna be Sookie every time, she deserves no less.”

The Childe’s words deeply pleased Eirik, and he began trying to think of ways to trick Bill into releasing his Childe.  If Bill released Jessica, she would be a good and loyal friend to Sookie.  The only reason Eirik was cautious was just as he told her, Bill could command her to either try to take Eirik and/or Sera out when they least expected it or he could order her to try to take Sookie.  Jessica was obviously loyal to Sookie though and Eirik knew deep within his soul that Sookie would be displeased if he tried to force her to abandon the girl.  As Jessica said, ‘friends stick around even when the going gets tough’ and Sookie was nothing if not a good and loyal friend.  Therefore, after saying a quick prayer, that Bill would either forget Jessica existed or release her so Eirik might take control of her; he nodded and said, “Very well, go pack as quickly as possible.”

“We already packed.”  She goes back into her room and carries out two bags, both of which seemed small to Eirik so he asked, “Those are all of your things?”

“I don’t have much in general.  Bill only bought me the very basics, so this is almost everything I own; fortunately, it was enough for a week.  The other bag is Hoyt’s and he barely packed anything either.”

Sera’s eyes closed and she swayed then her eyes popped open.  As Eirik heard Sookie moving around in the other room he asked, “What have you seen?”  He whispered so Sookie would not hear him.  He thought in a day or two she would probably be able to hear him no matter how softly he might speak but for right then a soft whisper would keep her from over hearing.

Sera sighed and whispered back, “In about twenty minutes he is going to come storming back in here and he is going to start making demands and will likely stake Jessica for betraying him to you and Sookie will understandably get upset.  One possible outcome is her setting him on fire and while neither you nor I will shed a tear over the loss of Compton, Sookie will never forgive herself if she kills him, especially if it is by accident and out of anger.”  Eirik thought Sera was right, that particular outcome would be completely unacceptable to Sookie.

“It keeps shifting between that outcome and one where you kill him for trying to strike Sookie, though her shield also sets him on fire about the same time you tear his head from his shoulders. 

As much as you would enjoy killing him, I do not think it wise to have Sookie watch as you do it… wait until later and do it in private when no one, especially the queen, can link it to you.  I will even help you make a plan and execute it if you want, but we have to be vigilant on all fronts since Bill is an immediate problem, but the queen is a bigger, more pressing problem and Russell is a loose cannon; I still do not know how he found out about Sookie. 

Did Bill approach him with the idea or did Sophie-Anne brag to him about her soon-to-be new asset?  Alternatively, did he approach Bill after learning of Sookie’s existence from someone else?  There are entirely too many unknowns where Russell is concerned for me to be comfortable.  I would not put it past him to have spies in Sophie-Anne’s Court; actually I am surprised that you do not!”

Eirik scowled as he replied, “I thought I did but apparently they have changed sides without informing me, because this is the first mention I have heard about Sookie being known to Sophie-Anne.  I would have put a stop to Bill’s charade if I had known sooner…  I would not have let him continue. 

I am not sure how I would have convinced her of the truth but I would have found a way to protect Sookie from him as soon as I knew what was going on.”  Without realizing it, he had raised his voice.  When he saw Sera, Jessica, and Hoyt staring past him, he turned to see Sookie standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes again. 

He vaguely recognized that she changed her dress before he heard her words, “Thank you Eric, that means the world to me; that you would have tried to help me even if I wouldn’t have believed you,” the tears spilled over and were running down her cheeks.

In three strides, Eirik was standing directly in front of her and wiping her tears away before cupping her cheeks with his strong hands.  “Sookie, I may be willing to do a lot of terrible things but I am an honorable man.  I would never disrespect the Goddess so blatantly by misleading one of her daughters so viciously or by allowing anyone else to do it.  Men have to respect a woman’s body; it is hard in this day and age when so many women do not respect themselves but you had kept yourself pure and that should have been a gift freely given, not dishonestly taken.  I could kill him for that alone.”

“Is it wrong to wish I gave it to you instead?”  She asked as she shyly looked at her feet.

He tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes.  “I wish it had been me too but if you do give your body to me I will cherish it as though no one else has ever touched you or known the pleasures of your body because when you give yourself over to me you will freely give it and know all the facts before you make that choice.”  Eirik leaned down and softly kissed her lips as he caressed her still damp cheek.

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but Eirik we have like 5 minutes tops.”  Sera said very seriously and he knew what she was talking about even if Sookie did not, as evidenced by the questioning look on her pretty face.

“Okay, Sookie are you all packed?”  She nodded her head and headed back into the bedroom where Eirik followed and picked up the big bag sitting on the bed.  As he turned to leave, he saw Sookie grab her garment and toiletry bags and head out in front of him.

He enjoyed the view of her ass swaying below the softly moving skirt of her pink and white sundress that was slightly reminiscent of the dress she wore the night they met. 

Sera was practically bouncing on her toes, as she waited by the door for Sookie and Eirik to reenter the living room.  Sookie looked around one last time and then followed behind Eirik.  He opened the door and exited first, as he felt it would not do for her to go first and risk Bill being on the other side of the door, though Eirik was fairly certain he would be able to tell if Bill was there, still…  He went before Sookie in case of a frontal attack.  As he opened the door they heard the elevator bing as it opened, and then Eirik felt a hand on his back and suddenly Sookie, Sera, Jessica, Hoyt, and Eirik were standing in the living room of Eirik’s suite.  As his stomach tried to do flip flops he turned to look at Sera, “Was that really necessary, you know how I feel about teleporting…”

He had never been able to get used to teleporting.  When he was a human and teleported with Sera he usually threw up.  Since becoming a Vampire it still caused his stomach to try to revolt but since there had not been anything inside his stomach for over a millennium it just felt like it was trying to pull itself inside out. 

However, her words following his question had him immediately forgiving her for not warning him first.  “Option number one, Eirik.”  She said seriously, as she looked at him with troubled eyes.

He stopped his complaining and looked at her while he thought, _‘I can put up with teleporting if it prevents Jessica from being ended and Sookie from killing her bastard of an Ex, or soon-to-be Ex I hope at least.’_   All he said though was, “Fair enough.”

Eirik cringed as he heard Compton screaming for Sookie and slamming doors, and then there was a loud banging on the door to Eirik’s suite.  He saw Sookie crying again as she heard Bill calling her a whore, a filthy bloodbag, and a fangbanger.  As she dropped the things she was carrying he pulled her into his arms and thought at her as hard as he could, **_‘Do not listen to him, Princess.  He is just trying to hurt you any way he can.’_** He knew Sookie heard him because she gasped when he thought it and held to him tighter.

Next Eirik thought at Sera, Sookie, Jessica and Hoyt, **_‘Sera do you and Leifr still have that safe house just outside of the city?’_**

She nodded and thought at all four of them, **_‘Yes, that is where we stayed last night.  What are you thinking?  Ah, excellent plan.’_**

Sookie sighed and then thought at them, **_‘Care to share this brilliant plan of yours Buster?’_**

Eirik chuckled as he pulled Sookie closer, **_‘My plan is I pack my stuff and then Sera teleports the five of us to the safe house and then she can go get food for you while I stay with you just in case of trouble.  Until you are Blood Bonded with me, Bill will still be able to track you._**

**_If we wait long enough, we can go right before dawn and then he will not have time to hunt you down before he goes to rest for the day.  Of course, if he realizes Jessica is with us, he could simply track her but I am cautiously optimistic that he has completely forgotten she exists._ **

**_To that end, Jessica do not say anything while we are here.  I know it is unfair to forbid you to speak but if he hears your voice, it might remind him that you exist, and I honestly think he would try to use you to hurt Sookie.  Causing me to have to kill you is something the asshole would happily do especially since you made it clear he has no regard for you due to the circumstances of your being his.  I think we both know that your death would devastate Sookie so keep silent while we are here.  You will be free to talk once we leave, okay?’_ **

Jessica nodded as Sookie thought, **_‘I like your plan.  How long ‘til sun rise?’_** She swallowed hard a moment later as if she just registered all of his words and then thought **, _‘He’ll always be able to find me?’_**

Eirik shook his head and responded **_‘Not once the link fades or if you Blood Bond to me.  Hope is not lost, do you hear me, Sookie, it is not lost!  If we leave right before the sun rises and then we Bond during the day by the time he can come look for you he will not be able to track you.  I do not necessarily want you to Blood Bond to me solely to get away from Bill but I will take what I can get.  I wish you could choose it freely without Bill hanging over your head.  I also wish we did not have to rush…  Blood Bonding is something a couple should savor and enjoy.’_**

She nodded slowly.  **_‘Wait, won’t you be dead for the day once the sun rises?’_**

He smiled and shook his head _. **‘No, I only sleep three hours a day, usually right in the middle of the day.  The sun rises just after 7:30 AM and sets about 6:50 PM tomorrow.  So this time of year I sleep from about 11:30 AM to about 2:30 PM.  I am awake the rest of the time.  In the wintertime, I still sleep three hours but the number of hours I am awake during the day shrinks, as the days get shorter, but since the sun rises later and sets earlier I get to spend more of my time out and about instead of trapped inside.  Anyway, we will have plenty of time to discuss your options and then Bond if that is what you choose.’**_

Sookie smiled at Eirik and whispered, “I think I will choose that,” then she thought at him **_‘but I need to think on it for a little longer.  Just keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll say yes when you ask me.’_**

He smiled and thanked Freyja for small miracles.  **_‘Good to know’_** He thought back at her.

Sera chose that moment to add to their conversation from her spot in Eirik’s bedroom, **_‘Uh, did I forget to mention that I sort of fibbed in front of Compton.  Eirik you will not sleep at all for the remainder of Sookie’s transformation and Sookie will die for three hours at sun rise today, tomorrow and Sunday and then again approximately between 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock on Monday morning, which will be the last three hours of the transformation.’_**

Eirik smiled at that news and thought, **_‘That is also good to know.’_**

He heard Sera moving around the bedroom, and he pulled Sookie with him as he walked over to see what Sera was doing.  He laughed when he saw her hunched over his suitcase folding his underwear.  “You do not have to fold my underwear, you know…  I have not worn any of it.  Pam always packs it as a joke.”  He laughed boisterously as both of them turned to look at him with saucer wide eyes and mouths in the shapes of ‘O’s’.  He smiled his best panty-dropping smile and laughed louder as Sookie groaned aloud at his look.  He kissed her forehead and walked over to the suitcase as he told Sera, “I can finish this; I do still remember the last time you packed my clothes for me.” 

He finished the thought by taking away the pair of underwear in her hand and tossing it into his open bag.

Sera huffed and exclaimed, “That was not my fault; it would have been fine if that Troll had not locked my spell.  The clothes would have returned to regular size, but noooo he just had to tamper with my spell because he thought it would be funny for a big guy like you to have his whole suitcase full of clothes too small for Tinkerbelle to wear.” 

She got louder the further into her explanation she got and Eirik chuckled, remembering the trouble she got into when Leifr found out what she had done, she had been punished almost a little too strictly for her crime.  Leifr was nothing if not in control and effective at making sure things that should not happen did not happen more than once.  Although considering what she did to the Troll and what happened to him Eirik guessed, the punishment did rather fit the crime. 

He was not going to mention the pain she felt at Leifr’s hand, or his, because of that mess in front of Sookie though, Eirik did not think Sookie was ready to hear about that!  Once he got her Bonded to him and the five marks in place then he would start working on her Human sensibilities and work her out of her comfort zone.  He was quite certain she would benefit from submitting to him almost as much as he would from dominating her.

Sookie looked at him with her doe eyes nice and wide and asked, “What’s it like to submit?”

Eirik practically choked on his tongue, “uh, you were not supposed to hear that part.”

She and Jessica both chuckled so he knew he was broadcasting to the whole room.  Eirik looked at Hoyt, who was standing in the doorway with Jessica, and his blush confirmed it as Sookie said, “So I gathered.  Will you explain it to me after we get…?”  She stopped for a moment to remember the situation, “When we get where we’re going will you explain to me what you meant by Dominance and submission?  I’d like to know what I’m getting into before I buy the farm, so to speak, that is what you want from me isn’t it… you want me to freely choose, I need all the facts in order for that to happen.  I…  I want all the facts this time.  I don’t want any surprises.”

She paused and Eirik hurried to answer her before she started up again because he realized she was right, 100% correct.  “You are right on all counts, Sookie, I am sorry; I guess old habits really do die hard.”  He smiled wistfully at her and hoped she would forgive him.

“Wow!”  she looked at him as if she had never seen him before, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you admit you were wrong about something before.” 

Eirik thought, _‘Maybe she has not seen me before, but I do look forward to her seeing all of me in the very near future.’_

“I heard that!”She paused then looked up at him through her eyelashes, “I’m looking forward to it too!”  she whispered and with that, she smiled a beaming yet seductive smile at him, turned around and headed out to the living room, leaving Eirik swallowing his tongue as he thought, _‘ Holy shit!  Now I really, reallycannot wait!  Oh Goddess it is going to be good to be me when it finally happens.  And it cannot happen soon enough for my tastes!’_  He smiled to himself as he finished packing his things, threw on a shirt, then closed his suitcase, and brought it out to the living room to stand beside everyone else’s luggage.

While Eirik packed, Sookie thought and unknowingly broadcasted her thoughts to everyone.  **_‘I can’t believe I said those things to him.  Where on earth did I find the courage to tell him I’m looking forward to seeing _all_ of him too!  I’ve never been so forward before, but it felt freeing and liberating.  And that whole thing about the Dominance and submission… if it’s anything like I’m thinking then  Holy _Hell_ ,’_** She looked at the clock over the mantle and saw there were five hours until Sunrise.

Just then, Eirik came out with his bag in hand and said, “We have a little over five hours until sunrise, what should we do to pass the time?”  he wiggled his eyebrows at Sookie as he said that last part and again she found herself giggling.

“I could sleep some, I’m still tired.”  She responded and as if to prove her point, she let out a big yawn.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her again then turned serious.  “You can sleep on the bed, Sera and I can take turns sitting with you.”

She smiled and stood up, “Okay, but will you lay with me until I fall asleep?”

He smiled at her, “Of course.”  He walked towards her, softly grabbed her hand, and began leading her back into the bedroom when Jessica spoke aloud. 

“Uh Eric, if I heard Bill in my head saying the words, ‘I hereby release you Jessica, my responsibilities to you are no more.’  Does that mean what I think it means?”

Jessica looked nervous as Eirik turned to Sera and asked her, “Sera, can you check her memory?”

Sera placed her hand on top of Jessica’s and then burst out in a smile, **_‘Holy Shit the stupid asshole actually threw away his one chance at an inside job.  Eirik, he really released her!’_**

Eirik smiled and patted Jessica’s shoulder as he passed by her and thought at her, **_‘Yes Jessica, it means exactly what you think it means; he cannot order you to do a damn thing now.  Stupid fucker shot himself in the foot.  You were the one thing I was worried about in this whole mess.  I was willing to risk it since I knew Sookie would be displeased if I abandoned you and I was sure I could end you if it became absolutely necessary but that was a last resort only and now he cannot control you at all.  The Goddess answered my prayer!  This is a huge Blessing from the Goddess!’_**

He kissed his fist and touched it to his heart as he whispered, “Thank you Freyja.”

Then he turned his head to look Jessica in the eye, **_‘You are far too young to be released so as your Sheriff you are now my responsibility until we figure out someone to foster you, though I will tell you it will likely be me.  Either way, know that for now if I give an order and you do not follow it I will punish you very severely since I cannot just command you to obey for the time being.  I will not order you about frivolously so if I give an order follow it immediately.  I will see about making you my Childe by Magick once we get back to Shreveport but until then know that my word is law even if you will not be compelled to obey, disobey at your own risk!’_**

Jessica stood on tiptoes, kissed his cheek, and then seemed to figure out how to talk telepathically, **_‘If it means being free of him forever then I will do anything you tell me to do Eric, I swear it!’_**

He smiled at Jessica before kissing Sookie’s forehead as he held her close but did not otherwise reply until Sera thought to all of them, **_‘Eirik, I kind of maybe sort of knew this would happen so I called, or rather I had Leifr call Emile and get permission for you to do the Rite.  He gave permission two days ago.  Though I suppose you should also know that he was most displeased when I told him what Compton was going to do, but he agrees she is far too young to not have a Master so he granted permission.”_** She took the three baggies out of her pocket and held them out to him, **_‘sooner is definitely better so do it now.’_**

**_‘Sera, you actually told Emile…’_ **

**_‘Yes, he also knows to expect Leifr’s call on another matter but that will not happen for a few days and neither of you need to worry about it for now.  Jessica is free of Compton and neither of us will be comfortable until she is bound to you so here, do it.  You just need to mix these herbs together, in the order they are numbered, in this bowl with this liquid and then say the words.’_** As Sera talked, the bowl and small vial of liquid appeared in her hands as if by magick.

Eirik was amazed that Emile would give his blessing prior to the need actually arising.  He was especially surprised since being Jessica’s Maker was Bill’s punishment.  Obviously, Sera knew things she was not sharing with Eirik yet so he figured she likely filled Emile in on everything that had and would take place in the immediate future. 

Eirik knew Sera would not withhold information if he needed to know it to keep everyone safe.  He was also confident that if the information became imperative to anyone’s safety that Sera would disclose it immediately.  Therefore, Eirik decided to continue to roll with the punches, as it were, and take the situation with Jessica as the blessing it truly was. 

He turned to face Jessica all the way and thought to her, **_‘Jessica, the spell we are talking about will essentially make me your Maker by Magick.  I will have all the same rights Bill had and I will be able to control you through my commands.  Sera is correct that I will feel much better once the spell is in place, but if you prefer to wait and find another Foster say so now as the spell can never be undone and, unlike with Childer by Blood, you will never be released.’_**

Jessica’s eyes were wide but she smiled and thought, **_‘Honestly Eric, I know I was a brat when I first got Turned and drove you and Pam nuts, but that was mostly because I knew my Maker didn’t want me and I was new to everything and since you couldn’t command me.  In truth, I much prefer you and Pam to Bill.  If you’ll have me, it’s an honor to become your Childe through Magick.  I trust you.’_**

When she said she trusted him he had to admit he was shocked but he smiled and nodded, “Very well then.”  He stuck his hand out towards Sera and took the bags of Herbs and the vial.  He took the bag with the number ‘1’ written on it in black Sharpie and opened it, pausing to sniff it.  He could not place all the scents but it smelled good.  He reverently poured the herbs into the bowl Sera was still holding, then opened the second and third bags, which both had the number ‘2’ on them, and poured them simultaneously as he knew he was supposed to.  Sera was nodding as Eirik went over each step in his head before doing it so he knew he was not making any huge mistakes despite only ever having done that spell once before.

He handed the empty bags to Sookie who took them and then He went to his bag and took out a small dagger he kept for emergencies.  He used it to stir the herbs then he uncorked the vial and slowly poured the liquid into the bowl.  It began to smoke so he slowly stirred it nine times clockwise and then waved his hand through the smoke three times in his direction and then three times in Jessica’s direction so the smoke would reach them.  Then Eirik said aloud, “Jessica Hamby, do you hereby consent to being the Childe of Eirik the Northman; Mine to teach, Mine to command and Mine to care for, for all time?”

“Uh I do.”

Eirik smiled and said, “So Mote It Be,” as he used his finger to take the mixture and rub it on his forehead in the shape of a pentagram, and then he did the same to Jessica before handing the bowl to Sookie.  He walked the two steps to Jessica and bent down to her neck as he thought at her, **_‘I need to drink from you and then you will drink from me okay?’_**

She nodded so he licked her neck twice and then bit.  Ordinarily their fangs, which were hollow tubes, would suck the pulsing blood out of a human but because Jessica was dead, Eirik had to pull three mouthfuls into his mouth and allow the blood to be sucked into his fangs that way.

When he pulled away from her, he kissed Jessica’s forehead and then bent his knees so she could reach his throat.  **_‘Take three mouths full, no more and no less.’_** She nodded before licking his neck twice, and then she bit and slowly took three mouthfuls into herself.  Eirik felt the spell snap into place and knew Jessica was now his Childe by Magick.

Jessica’s eyes were wide as she pulled away from his neck, ‘ ** _Will I always feel you like that?  It wasn’t like that with Bill!_** ’

Eirik chuckled and told her honestly, ‘ ** _It is my age.  It makes my blood stronger.  The older a Vampire is when they turn someone the stronger the connection between the Maker and Childe.  It is almost imperceptible except for when one performs the Maker’s Rite._**

**_When someone is Turned, the connection is there the moment she wakes so she does not really tend to notice the intensity of it, especially given all the other strong and distracting stimuli she encounters upon rising Vampire for the first time.  When one performs The Rite, the Childe’s Maker by Blood first releases her so when the new bond forms the intensity of it is very noticeable.  In addition, The Rite somewhat amplifies the connection which is by nature a stronger connection than that of a usual Maker and Childe.  It has to be that way for the Magick to work._ **

**_The intensity of our new Bond might be a little distracting for a few days but just as you learned to compensate for stronger and keener senses you will begin to push the feeling into the background, only pulling it to the forefront when you need it.  At least that is how it was for my other Childe by Magick.  Do you remember Saúl from when you stayed with me and Pam before?_** ’

Jessica nodded so he told her, ‘ ** _He has been my Childe by Magick since early November of 1672 CE so almost exactly 336 years ago.  When we get back to Shreveport I will have him come talk to you and answer any questions I have not already answered for you from the perspective of the Childe since I am sure my perceptions of how it is are different than his, not bad different, mind you, just different._** ’

She nodded again and thought, ‘ ** _He’s kind of scary up close, but I guess I could talk to him if you’re sure it won’t bother him._** ’

Eirik laughed out loud, ‘ ** _He will be very pleased to hear you say that as he has worked on his ‘scary face’ as he calls it for centuries trying to perfect it.  I highly doubt he will mind talking to you; he gets along well with Pam, though they fought like true siblings when I first made her.  I highly doubt that will happen with you though as he knows by now that there is plenty of my attention to go around.  Furthermore, once I tell him how loyal you are he will take an immediate liking to you._** ’

Jessica smiled shyly, ‘ ** _If you’re sure, I just don’t want to needlessly bother him.  I know I was annoying to the ‘nth’ degree when I was around the first time and I don’t want to be like that this time.  I want to be a good Childe and have the kind of relationship you have with Pam and Saúl with my Maker.  I think that’s a big reason I reacted so badly the first time, it was painfully obvious that you have an excellent relationship with both of them even if I did not know at the time that Saúl was yours through Magick and not blood.  It was equally obvious that I wasn’t going to have that sort of relationship with my Maker.  I really am sorry for being so annoying._** ’

Eirik smiled a reassuring smile at her, ‘ ** _Think nothing of it so far as I am concerned our relationship started mere minutes ago and you have the opportunity to show you mean what you say and work to build our relationship into what you wish it to be.  It will be as good or as bad as you make it.  If you act like an adult instead of a petulant Childe, I, and others, will treat you as an adult.  Pam and Saúl have also both told me that I am a fair Maker.  I will not make you do anything too terrible, I put up with how spoiled Pam is after all, though admittedly I did contribute to that.”_** He smiled self-deprecatingly at that admission before continuing his thoughts, ** _“Be the young woman I have seen glimpses of in the last few days and eventually we will have the relationship you wish to have with me.’_** He finished his statement with a kiss to her forehead.  ‘ ** _I am sorry your new life has not been what it should have been from the moment you rose Vampire.  I will endeavor to make that up to you as best I can._** ’

Sera came over and hugged Jessica, as she whispered in the mind’s ear of the young vampire, **_‘Welcome to the Family Jessica.’_**

Jessica got tears in her eyes and whispered “thank you, to both of you.”

‘ ** _Since Compton released you and he can no longer use you against us you may talk freely while we wait for the sun to get closer to rising, though do try to keep it down as Sookie will be sleeping._** ’

Jessica nodded, “Will do.”

Eirik turned back to Sookie, and after she broke his hold to give a heartfelt hug to Jessica, he pulled her back into his arms using his arm to direct her into the bedroom, “Shall we?”

Eirik’s words to Jessica deeply pleased Sookie.  She really liked who she was beginning to see he had always been.  She realized sadly that her relationship with Bill kept her in the dark about who Eirik really was.  She thought Eirik and Jessica’s new situation would be just what her young friend needed to flourish. 

As Eirik asked if they should go into the bedroom Sookie was suddenly very nervous but she nodded as she followed him.  He seemed to sense that and he turned to look at her “We will only rest, you will sleep and I will strategize how best to keep you safe.  Though I do reserve the right to give you a goodnight kiss before you fall asleep.”  He leered at her slightly as he said that last part, causing her to giggle again.

“Okay,” She replied as he sat on the bed and took off his shoes.  She kicked her pumps off as she watched him stand to lift the covers before he pulled her onto the bed with him and laid down while pulling her into his arms.  As he covered them with the blankets, Sookie felt very safe surrounded by him.

His hand began stroking through her hair, and she felt him place a soft kiss to the top of her head.  “There, I have given you a goodnight kiss so now you can sleep,” and he continued to stroke her hair.  The last thing Sookie heard before she drifted to sleep was Eirik promising, “I will keep you safe, I swear it.”

The next thing Sookie heard was Eirik saying, “We should be going soon, Sera.” 

As he finished saying the words, they all heard a door open in the hallway and then Sookie heard shuffling outside their door.  Sookie thought derisively, _‘Bill waiting to attack as we exit the room most likely.’_   She did not stop to think about the fact that she could hear him through the walls and door until later in the day when she would replay the evening over in her head.

**_‘Eirik, I will bring you, Sookie, Jessica, and Hoyt to the safe house.  If Jessica and Hoyt hold hands again and Jessica touches Sookie while you and she touch I can just touch one of you and move all of us at once just like before, then I will come back for the luggage, okay?’_** Sera thought at all of them.

**_‘Sounds like a plan.’_** They all thought back at her.  Eirik shifted on the bed to sit on the edge then after what sounded like him putting his boots back on, Sookie felt him get up, and he lifted her into his arms.  Next Sera handed, the still sleepy, Sookie her shoes and then took Sookie’s left hand.  Sera placed her other hand on Eirik’s back and then suddenly all five of them were standing in an entry hall and Sookie felt like she was going to throw up only she had not eaten all day or night so there was nothing in her stomach for her to throw up.

**________________________________________________________________**

 


	3. Say A Prayer Of Thanks

**Revised as of 2015-01-06**

**________________________________________________________________**

**It’s Elemental**

**By Lilly Gray & Robin** **McAllister**

**© 2011-2015 Sarah A. Higgins & Robin McAllister**

**Chapter 003**

**Say A Prayer Of Thanks**

**________________________________________________________________**

Sera took Sookie’s left hand in hers, and Sera placed her other hand on Eirik’s back then suddenly all five of them were standing in a large entry hall.  Sookie felt like she was going to throw up only she had not eaten all day or night so there was nothing in her stomach for her to throw up.

Sookie giggled as Jessica said, “Boy am I glad I don’t eat food or I’d have barfed all over y’all both times we did that.”

As Eirik let Sookie’s feet fall to the floor he chuckled at Jessica’s words and Hoyt’s deep nod of agreement before he responded slightly chagrinned, “I was eight the first time Sera teleported me somewhere, and that urge to vomit is still, 2,019 years later, a very real reality for me.  You should be happy you were a Vampire the first time you experienced it because I experienced it on a full stomach the first time, and Sera took decades before she forgave me for ruining her favorite dress.”  He chuckled at himself as Sera nodded and everyone else laughed a bit at his expense.

Eirik shifted focus after they all seemed to calm down as he heard and remembered Sookie’s thoughts about not having eaten so he turned to Sera, “Can you get Sookie some food before you go back for the luggage.  She has not eaten since dinner last night, and if I recall correctly she did not eat very much.”  Eirik turned to Hoyt and asked, “Hoyt, right?”

Hoyt nodded and said ‘Yes sir.’ so Eirik continued, “I am Eric, anyway, are you hungry?”

Hoyt responded respectfully and ever mindful of the fact that Eirik could have abandoned him and Jessica, “Nice to meet you and uh thanks for letting us come; Vampire Bill was giving me the creeps.  As for food I haven’t eaten since last night neither so I could definitely eat now.”

Eirik smiled, “You are welcome.  I have known Compton for almost his entire Vampire existence and I would not wish his company on my worst enemy.  For the record, I spoke to the Magister, Emile, shortly after Jessica was turned, about finding her a more interested and invested Maker but Emile hoped the responsibility would help Compton finally mature into a ‘proper’ Vampire.”  Eirik smiled to gentle his next words, “You were bloody annoying when you stayed with me but I knew that I would have reacted similarly when I was first turned if I had found myself in your situation with a Maker who wished I had never been born never mind Turned.  What you do not know is that Emile gave me a year.  If Bill had not begun behaving like a proper Maker within a year of your Turning, Jessica, Emile promised he would allow me to remove you from Compton’s care.  I honestly thought Bill had improved.  I would like to apologize on behalf of the Supernatural Government that your unhappiness was necessary to try to teach several important lessons to a Vampire whose Maker never should have Turned him. 

If I could take away the pain and heartache you have suffered I would but I cannot so I will strive to make it up to you in other ways.”  Eirik turned back to Hoyt, “Treat her with respect and you and I will have no issues and you will be welcome where ever we are.”

Hoyt repeated, “Yes Sir,” as he held a sobbing Jessica in his arms.

Eirik nodded at Hoyt and spoke gently to Jessica, “I did not mean to upset you, Childe, I only wished to let you know that I was not totally blind to your plight and that I had negotiated your freedom if Compton did not become the Maker you deserved.  

Difficult though it may be, I want you to try to let go of the pain you have suffered at Compton’s hands as I vow to you now that you will be a valued and cherished member of my family.  I regret that I did not give you that sliver of hope before I sent you to stay with Compton; it might have made his bullshit easier to cope with.  However, you are mine now and forever more so I hope your suffering is over.  To that end I vow to do my best to make it so.”

Jessica threw herself into Eirik’s arms and hugged him tightly as she whispered, “Thank you for caring and helping even if I didn’t know that was the case.  You are already a better Maker to me and that was before you became my actual Maker.”

He rocked her a bit and held her just as tightly as he prayed to Freyja that Jessica would heal sooner rather than later from the wounds inflicted upon her ego and feelings of self-worth by Bill. 

After whispering, that he was glad to call her his, Jessica squeezed him just a little harder for a moment and then pulled away before whipping at her bloody cheeks.  “I’m sorry about your shirt.”

Eirik waved away her concerns as he honestly replied, “The shirt is inconsequential to me, your happiness and peace of mind not to mention your self-esteem and feelings of self-worth are far more valuable to me.  I want you to truly understand that you are a part of my family now and that you have value to me simply because you are you.”

Jessica smiled tenuously and told him, “I understood that there were bigger issues than my being made Vampire by someone who didn’t want me but I have to admit I thought if he didn’t want me no one ever would.  Hoyt started to make me doubt that opinion, which for the record Bill actually told me no one would ever want me several times daily, but I think with you as my new Maker I’ll have all the tools and stuff needed to get over the emotional damage Bill caused.”

Eirik nodded, “If you wish to speak to me at any time about what exactly you went through I would be happy to listen however if you would prefer to do your venting to a stranger I know several Supernatural Therapists and Psychiatrists whom I would be happy to set you up with at my expense.  I very much wish you to one day be free of the pain Bill caused these last few months.  Maybe I am wrong but I do not think your wounds are deep enough that you will never overcome them.  You are a strong girl Jessica, with time and the love of your new family I think you will come out of this experience stronger than you would be had you not gone through it all.”

Jessica nodded, “I hope you are right, Eric.”

“Now, now Jessica, surely you have figured out by now that I am always right!”  He smiled at the resulting grin Jessica gave him before he turned to Sera and asked again, “I got sidetracked so Sera, will you acquire food for Sookie and Hoyt?”

Sera nodded at him and promised to bring enough food for both of them.  She reminded Eirik about the store of blood in the fridge saying that it was all fresh then she disappeared.

Eirik pulled out his cell phone and pushed a bunch of buttons before placing it on the table by the door as he said, “You really need to keep your strength up, Sookie, especially if we are going to exchange blood.  I do not want to weaken you so much that you cannot defend yourself if something happens.  The whole point of exchanging is to protect you.  If I take blood from you now I could weaken you to the point where your shield will not stay up and right now that is your main defensive tool.”

Sookie thought, _‘Shield?’_   “Uh Eric what shield are you talking about?”

He chuckled as he said, “The one that set Bill on fire when he tried to make a grab for you earlier.  I am not sure you can see it, probably not since you had to ask what I was talking about just now.  It has surrounded you since I woke up and it has included me and Sera since you went into the bedroom to get your luggage and right now, it is wrapped around all four of us.  I imagine it will remain around anyone you deem friendly and will hurt anyone you deem foe who happens to get close enough to it for it to react.”

“I set Bill on fire?”

“Yes I wish you had seen his face when he realized he was on fire.  It was classic.”

“Oh, I’m not sure how I feel about setting him on fire.”

“Sookie he is a threat to you.  If he comes at you I do not want you to hesitate, do you understand?  I am fairly certain the shield would react on its own, but I want you to be wary of him and do what you must to stay safe.”

Sookie could feel Eirik’s fear that something might happen to her so she rushed to reassure him, “I will Eric, I promise not to hesitate.” 

He nodded once as he said, “Good, we have to play smart if we are going to win this, especially since I have a feeling we do not know all the players yet.”  He paused and then held out his hand as he asked “Give me your cell phone, Hoyt and Jessica, yours too, we cannot take the chance that any of those players thinks to check our phones for a location so I need to either turn off the GPS or take the battery out.”

Jessica told him she did not actually have a cell phone.  Eirik scowled and said firmly, “Jessica when we get back to Shreveport I will arrange for Pam to take you shopping for more clothes and the necessities like a cell phone and lap top and anything else you might like to keep you occupied.  What Bill was thinking not giving you a cell phone… did he at least teach you how to call him using your bond with him in case of emergency?”

“Uh no I, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Has he taught you to run or fly yet?”

“Uh no.”

Eirik sighed again at Bill’s incredible incompetence realizing it was worse than he thought it was before reassuring himself that Jessica was in good hands now and would not falter due to Bill’s failings as her Maker.  “I will teach you how to call me through our bond in the next couple of days and as I said I will have Pam help you get the essentials. 

When we get back to Shreveport, I will see about setting aside some time to teach you how to run and then we will see if you are far enough into your life as a Vampire to learn to fly.  It can take up to six months after a Vampire rises before they are capable of learning how to fly so it might be too soon but I know how to test you and see if we can jump start the ability.

Furthermore, I will set up a bank account for you and put a weekly allowance into it.  I will have to think about how much would be appropriate, but you will begin getting an allowance as soon as I have a chance to contact my accountant.  If you have need of more money, I will require you to ask for it and give me the reason you want it and all the reasons whatever you want is worthwhile.  But overall I will make sure the sum is big enough that your allowance should allow you to purchase most things you will need or want; in fact the only thing I think you might need that it might not be enough for is a higher end car.  Do you know how to drive?”

“I had just gotten my permit when I was Turned.  I had taken two classes but once I got Turned, well Bill never even offered to finish teaching me.”

“In that case I will also teach you how to drive and once you have a feel for it I will arrange for you to have a car of your own and to take lessons at a Driver’s Ed school I know that accepts Vampires.”

“Eric, uh, thank you!  I know I’m your responsibility now but I appreciate that you’re already doing a better job of taking care of me in a few hours than Bill did in the few months I was with him.”

“Your previous Maker was severely lacking in my opinion, more so than I realized, and I think you would have ended up on my radar, so to speak, well before the year would have been up, for misbehaving sooner rather than later simply because you would not have known better.  Therefore, I am pleased that your care and education will now officially fall to me as I know I will be able to raise you to be a responsible and capable Vampire within our society.”

While he was talking, Sookie handed him her phone to which he made a comment about it being old enough to allow him to remove the battery.  He took it apart then began to dismantle Hoyt’s phone as well.  When Eirik finished speaking to Jessica Sookie asked, “What are the chances that Bill will find us here or that someone else will?”

Eirik put both dismantled phones on the table by the door with his while he actually seemed to think about her question for a moment before he responded as he led them down a hall and through several doors before they were staring at a bookcase.  “First, we have an advantage because this house is not actually in Dallas.  We are about a forty minute run from the hotel and since the sun will rise in a little less than an hour Bill will not be able to try to track us now since he will be able to tell roughly how far away you are from him.  Therefore, even though he has an hour until the sun will rise he will not try to do anything about it until sunset.

Secondly, we have an additional advantage because this is one of Leifr’s safe houses and he makes me look like a flailing newborn when it comes to security, in fact he actually helped with some of my own personal security back in Shreveport.”

Eirik pointed to a yellow book as he pulled it out and said, “I do not think anyone would connect you to him directly.  The younger players probably do not even know of my connection to him, the only ones who know for sure are Pam, Saúl, the Council, Leifr, and his Childer, but again, only the really old ones know how close we truly are.  Irina, for example is less than 300 years old so she does not know me that well and to my knowledge does not know my extensive history with Leifr or exactly just how close we truly are.

I think we are actually safer here than we would be anywhere else.  Jessica being here would have been a risk if Compton had not released her and now that she is my Childe by Magick, the risk is completely gone.  Moreover, since sunrise is so close I think it will be safe because we plan to Bond during the day, which will remove Bill’s ability to track you when he rises, Sookie.

I might take us all to Stan Davis’ tomorrow night; he is the King of Texas and a close friend.  Even if Bill somehow tracks us there, he would not be able to get to us.  I cannot stress how stupid it was for him to release Jessica and how advantageous it is to us.  If he had not released you and he thought of it he could have tracked you and found us regardless of whether we remove his tie to Sookie. 

Then it would have been possible for him to command you to leave and join him outside.  We would not have been able to stop you from following his commands, not without you suffering deeply.  I would have been willing to try to prevent you from leaving but it would have been very painful for you, Jessica.  I know you were religious when you were human so I highly suggest you say a prayer before going to rest and thank your God for making Bill stupid enough to release you.”

They giggled so Eirik continued, “I am serious, if he had thought of it he could have commanded Jessica to take Sookie when I least expected it.  Of course, I would have been anticipating that and fully prepared but it could have caused me to have to harm Jessica, which would ultimately hurt Sookie.  His lack of forethought is a huge blessing for us.”

They looked skeptical so he said, “Jessica I am going to command you okay?”

She nodded so he commanded her to raise her arms and watched her as a moment later her arms rose above her head.  He left them there a moment before removing the command.

“Now try to resist, I will not leave it for too long.”  He repeated the command and her face showed visible strain a moment later.  Soon she was on her knees and crying so since Eirik was certain that she had learned the lesson he intended he removed the command and watched as she sagged in place.

“Holy Shit that’s intense.”

He nodded and told her, “If he had not released you he could have commanded you to try to take me out and/or to try to take Sookie.  So I was deadly serious when I suggested you pray.”

She thought for a minute and as she rose back to her feet, she said, “I haven’t prayed since I was turned but you’re right.  If he remembered me at all, he’d have probably hurt me if he got me away from you.  I’d rather be hurt and with friends than be with him and hurt and possibly ended so I would have let you try to stop him from calling me to him but you’re right this is a blessing and definitely calls for a prayer of thanks.”

Eirik nodded and after Jessica finished talking, he stuck his hand in the slot where the book had been and Sookie saw him flip something like a switch and then suddenly the bookcase was moving.  When it finished moving she saw a long stairwell leading down.   ** _‘I hope I don’t fall on my ass in the dark.’_**   She thought worriedly.

“Do not worry, Sookie, if you fall I will catch you before your beautiful ass touches the floor,” Eirik whispered in her ear as he ushered her into the stairwell in front of him.

He took Sookie’s hand and had her grab hold of his t-shirt.  “Jessica grab hold of Hoyt so he does not fall in the dark.  I am going to close the door so do not move until I say so.”  Sookie nodded her head yes and held his shirt tighter in her hand as she saw Jessica grab Hoyt’s hand just before the bookcase slowly slid back into place.

As soon as the door was completely closed Sookie saw a glow about a foot in front of her, “Eric what is that?”

“That is your shield.”

Sookie heard Hoyt comment on it and how cool it looked before she suddenly felt her feet leaving the ground and it seemed like they were floating as Eirik said, “Jessica follow me.”

“How do you walk so smoothly?”  Sookie asked as she snuggled into his arms.

He chuckled before he whispered, “well right now I am actually hovering over the steps so technically I am flying smoothly, not walking.”  He chuckled again as she gasped at the news.

“Really, you’re flying?  You have to show me that in the light, that’s so neat!”  She fell silent as she felt him drop her legs and slowly lower her to the floor.

“Hold on again.”  She heard a click and then she saw a lit number pad start to glow in the dark and then what could only be a retina scan and a hand print scan and then she heard Eirik say, “I am Eirik the Northman, my voice is my password.”

Then there was light as a door opened.  Eirik swept her back into his arms, and carried her bridal style through the doorway and after everyone was inside closed the door with his foot.  The door, incidentally, would probably take three or four Sookies to close with both hands.

He set her down again, and offered her a seat on the long overstuffed couch in the middle of the room while he pushed a button on the coffee table so that the cabinets on the wall moved to reveal a huge Flat Screen TV.  He pulled the remote out of a box on one of the shelves revealed by the cabinets moving and handed it to Sookie.  “I am going to go see if the beds are made and make three up if they are not…”  Eirik paused then cautiously continued, “Will you rest with me today?  I promise to behave if that is what you want me to do.”

Sookie hesitated and then whispered more confidently than she felt, “Yes, Eric I’ll rest with you today.”  She finished the sentence in her head though she did not intend to share the thought, **_‘and every day that you’ll have me after that.’_**

She saw his lips twitch as he turned to walk down the hallway towards what she assumed were the bedrooms and realized she had broadcasted her thought to the whole room.

She sat back on the couch and Jessica and Hoyt joined her as she flipped through the channels, never stopping for long on any one show.  She thought she should be tired, but strangely, she felt refreshed and wide-awake.  She wondered if that was normal for the transformation.  When Eirik returned, she asked him.

He thought for a moment before responding, “I think it is pretty par for the course…  I think the first 16 or so hours are spent asleep or at least sleepy and then the rest of the time, with the exception of three hours after sunrise, you will be wide awake and if Sera is any indication you will be wide awake most of the time after that.”

“Does she really not sleep at all?”  Sookie asked nervously.

“According to her she slept about two hours daily for the first month or so and then one hour every day until she was a couple of centuries old and then slowly stopped sleeping altogether over the course of the following millennium.  It works out well for her since her Mate sleeps even less than I do…  I am talking about an hour every two or three decades so she gets to spend all his waking time with him.”

“Where is he while she’s here with us?”  Sookie asked as her nosy side peeked through.

“He is probably already with Stan, which reminds me I should call him and tell him about Godric, he might wish to speak with you since you were with Godric when he… when he passed.”  He said that so quietly she almost had to strain to hear him.

“Who is Leifr to you and Godric, I mean besides him being Sera’s mate?”  She asked just as softly.

“You must not tell anyone what I am about to tell you.  That goes for you and Hoyt too, Jessica.  The only reason I am going to tell you both is because I can now control Jessica and I plan to glamour Hoyt, if he agrees, not to ever reveal what I am about to tell you.  Vampires guard their connections very closely and the old ones almost never reveal who their Maker is or who their Childer are, unless they have bonded to the Childe first.  Jessica and I are essentially Bonded so that leaves Hoyt.”

Hoyt nodded and said, “I don’t mind you glamouring me to protect yourself from me telling secrets I shouldn’t.  Plus I know Sookie wouldn’t let you do nothin’ to hurt me so I’m not worried about you doing any glamours you shouldn’t.”

Eirik nodded and agreed with Hoyt and then continued his story, “Thank you Hoyt, I promise not to abuse your trust.  Anyway, Leifr is Godric’s Maker, he actually has a lot of Childer, many of them he bonded with first and are therefore still with him.  And as you know Godric is, was, my Maker.”  He was still talking softly so Sookie leaned into his shoulder as he sat next to her and wrapped her arm as far around his shoulders as it would go, which given his size, and hers, was not far.

“Someday I hope you’ll tell me stories of you and Godric, how you met and what he was like as a Maker.  I want to know everything there is to know about you, every little detail; no matter how small.”  She whispered into his ear.

She felt him shiver just before he responded, “I would like that someday, but not today, his loss is still too fresh.”

She placed her finger on his lips.  “I know, I wasn’t asking for it to happen now, I was just, I don’t know, making a declaration of intent I guess.”

He chuckled, “Good to know,” he said as he turned his head to look at her.  “Sookie, I…”  She cut him off with a soft kiss to his lips that soon turned heated.  He shifted on the couch and lifted her as he lay back so that she was lying on top of him across the couch, and he deepened the kiss.  Just when Sookie was about to lick around his fangs she heard several throats clear, and she jumped a little in surprise, cutting her lip on his fang.  She moaned as he sucked her lip into his mouth to lick away the blood that escaped it.

Eirik redoubled his efforts to make her orgasm from his kiss alone and then she heard the throats clear again.  She was not startled that time, but she only pulled away when she heard an exasperated sigh and a foot tapping on the ground.  Eirik groaned and tried to pull her back to him, _‘hmmm tempting, but there’s that sigh again.’_   She thought before finally with a sigh of her own and a great amount of will power she pulled away and sat up on Eirik’s lap, causing both of them to moan at the feel of his hardness beneath her…  **_‘WOW!  Did I do that?!’_**

He thought back at her, **_‘Yes, Princess you did that!  Let’s get rid of Sera and we can do more of that!’_**

Sookie giggled as Sera snapped out, “I can hear you ya know.  Besides that is a fine how do you do!  I go out of my way to get her breakfast and you cannot even come up for air long enough for her to eat it… she will not have any energy for that if she does not eat soon!  Furthermore, there will be no blood for you from her if she does not eat; doctor’s orders.”

That got Sookie’s attention, “Doctor?  What Doctor?”

“I called Ludwig on a disposable phone to ask her if there was anything special you should eat since I do not remember much about the actual food I ate while I was transforming, anyways she said lots of carbs and protein with a little bit of fat for good measure.  I got you a stack of pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, bacon, buttered toast with 4 different kinds of jelly available, and a huge cup of OJ with an even larger travel mug full of Coffee, black, 1 sugar.  That is how you like it, right?”  Sera asked somewhat shyly.

Sookie nodded with a big smile on her face, “That all sounds perfect,” as she moved to get off of Eirik so she could sit and eat her breakfast he pulled her back to him with a groan.  She smiled at him and whispered, “I’m hungry Eric.  I need to eat so my strength won’t dwindle and I can keep up with my big Viking.”

“Your Viking, huh?”  She just nodded at him, gave him a peck on the lips, and slowly moved off him to sit by his feet, closer to the end of the super long couch beside Jessica and Hoyt.

Hoyt hopped up and took the drink container from Sera’s out stretched hand as he helped her deposit the bags of food on the table.  Sera told him she got him sugar packets and creamer since she did not want to guess what he liked and be wrong because she had not thought to ask earlier.

He thanked her then Sookie and Hoyt both sat down and began eating.

**________________________________________________________________**

**Earlier in the evening**

After Bill slipped out of his suite, he leaned in to the door a bit but based on the conversation he could hear Sookie and Eirik having through the door he knew that he was not going to learn anything useful by just standing out there.  He decided to leave and find a donor to charge to Eirik’s bill as he thought, _‘Those suckers go for a minimum of $500 a meal.  Maybe I can get a donor with a rare blood type, which will go for at least $1,000 each.  Oh, I should get two and have them help me work out some of this tension, too, while I try to figure out my next move.’_

As Bill rode the elevator down to the lobby, he tried to piece together what he knew so far…  _‘Sookie is transforming into some unknown Supernatural Creature.  What I need to do is catch that woman unaware and force her to tell me what Sookie is becoming.  At least she’s not dying or turning into a Vampire, neither the Queen nor Russell would forgive me for that!’_

He decided he needed to come up with a plan.   _‘If I can get the element of surprise against that blasted woman when Eric is dead for the day, I can steal Sookie, but this will require outside help to capture her during the day, which will mean moving up the timeline… so I need to call Russell and arrange for him to send daytime help.’_

“Sir?”  Bill turned to see the Concierge standing in front of him, “Sir, I am afraid you cannot be in the Lobby dressed as you are.”  Bill flashed his fangs at the man and he did not as much as flinch.

Therefore, Bill replied with a bit of a growl, “I was just about to go buy new clothes in the shops; I was planning to charge them to my room.”

“Very well Sir, but please do not delay,” and the Concierge returned to his desk.

An hour in the little shops got Bill $3,750 worth of clothes and a fully loaded cell phone all charged to his room, which was on Eirik’s account.  The clothes were not Bill’s usual style, but since he was forcing Eirik to pay Bill bought the most expensive items the stores had for sale. 

Bill left the phone store with the newly released unlocked $299 black 16 GB iPhone 3G with a 2 year contract through AT&T.  Bill glamoured the woman behind the counter to look up Eirik’s billing information in the Hotel computer system and put his information and credit card number down so Bill had a free phone that would be charged to Eirik. 

Bill figured he had a month to run up the bill before Eirik would figure out what he had done.  The fact that Eirik would receive a huge extra charge for breaking the contract was just an additional bonus as far as Bill was concerned.  He did not think Eirik would tell the company that Bill bought the phone fraudulently simply because Bill figured Eirik would not want to admit that Bill took advantage of him.  Bill knew appearances were very important in the Supernatural World and Eirik would want to maintain his levels of authority and respect.  Bill thought if he got a chance, he would make sure everyone knew anyway as an additional way to hurt Eirik’s powerbase.

Bill noticed two women checking him out in his new purple silk button down shirt and his black slacks.  He thought they even checked out his new $1,750 shoes.

_‘Great, dinner is served, now I’ve just got to get them somewhere secluded.’_   He thought and as he walked past them, he glamoured both of them into following him, at a distance, so no one would connect him with them.  Bill got them out the back door of the hotel and into the alleyway.

The back alley was an access road that traversed the whole length of the building and had openings on both ends leading out to different streets.  Although obviously used for deliveries, no one seemed to be back here right then.  Still it did not have many places to hide and anyone walking by either end of the alley could easily see them so he led them both behind the huge dumpsters. 

Grabbing the closest one, he forced her to her knees; when she tried to resist Bill glamoured her into staying put and not biting him, then he ordered her to give him the blowjob of her lifetime.  Before the other woman could flee, he grabbed hold of her and immediately bit down on her jugular.  He kept one hand over her mouth to prevent her from calling for help.  Last thing he needed was anyone hearing her and coming to investigate.  As he pulled his fangs out of her flesh, to allow her warm blood to rush into his mouth, he enjoyed the taste coating his tongue as the hollow tubes of his fangs sucked the blood out of his mouth and up into his body.  All the while, she continued to struggle to get away. 

The one on her knees tentatively took Bill into her mouth as he grabbed her friend.  He stopped drinking long enough to growl out for her to blow him as if she meant it.  He could not wait to feel their lives leave them as he drained them dry, but he wanted his orgasm first.

He drank deeply from the one in his arms and he felt his dick get harder.  Slowly her heartbeat started to slow and then it stuttered to a stop.  He dropped her to the ground beside him as he came down the throat of the other woman.  When her eyes opened and she saw her friend lying dead at Bill’s feet she tried to scramble away but he grabbed her arm and pulled her up smiling at her with her friend’s blood dripping down his chin, “Going Somewhere?”  He grabbed her hair and pulled her head to the side before quickly biting down on her jugular…  Her fear made her blood sweeter but he made fast work of draining her since he still had to call Russell and plan a kidnapping.

After he used one of the women’s shirts to clean his face of any blood, Bill searched both bodies and came up with $2,700 in cash, no credit cards but two rhinestone-encrusted cell phones.  He rolled his eyes at the thought of anyone seeing him talking on either of those phones, but he now had $2,700 he did not have before.  After he dumped both lifeless bodies into the closest dumpster, he began to walk towards the end of the access road to the street and on to the corner of the city block hoping to find a coffee shop nearby.

As he walked a couple of blocks, he tossed pieces of his victims’ belongings into the trash barrels he passed.  Finally, four blocks from the hotel he found a coffee shop.  The phone’s battery only had about a 75% charge.  Therefore, after buying a coffee, he was not going to drink so he had a reason to be there, he sat at a table by the wall that had electrical outlets on it for customers to plug their laptops into so he could charge the battery. 

An hour later Bill’s new free phone not only had a full charge but he had also read the manual and figured out how everything on it worked, so he tossed his cold coffee into the trash.  After leaving the coffee shop, he began walking towards a park he saw down the street.  He would have felt more comfortable making his call in private, but he thought contemptuously that the anonymity of the park after dark would have to do.  Upon reaching the park, he dialed the number he had for Russell’s second in command, Betty-Jo, from memory.

He heard the phone picked up and then “Who is this and how did you get this number?”

“Betty-Jo, it’s Compton,” Bill said softly so no one nearby would hear him.  “There have been some complications, and I need to arrange for Sookie to be acquired this morning.”  He listened as Betty-Jo clearly walked into another room and closed the door.

Bill heard some whispers in a language he did not know and impatiently waited three or so minutes, as Russell traced the call, before Bill heard Russell’s voice, “What complications, Compton?  You said this would be problem free, and why are you calling me from downtown Dallas?”  Russell sounded irritated, but not angry, not yet any way.

Bill quickly explained why they were in Dallas and what transpired that day.  Russell was quiet until Bill got to the part about Sera being in his suite when Russell interrupted him, “Did this woman by chance say who she is?”

Bill told him, “Seraphina the Elder is what she first called herself when I came out of the bedroom.  I’ve never seen her before but Eric clearly knew who she was just from her description…”

“Tell me Compton; does this woman have multi-colored hair?  I think pink, blue, purple and blonde?” Russell asked.

“Yes she does, do you know her?” Bill answered.

“I know of her.”  Now Russell sounded wary.  He waited a moment then continued, “I do not wish to continue this transaction with you any longer.  Northman alone was problematic, but Seraphina the Elder is a force that I would rather not reckon with especially since her Mate, Leifr, is probably not far away.

Since you failed to inform me that your young Telepath is friends with one, and possibly two of the oldest creatures in existence, I will expect the return of the full down payment I made to you by sunset tomorrow.

Also, not that I care what happens to you, but Northman was known for taking out entire armies singlehandedly over a thousand years ago so you have your work cut out for you.  Back then, even though I am a little under two thousand years his senior, I would not have wanted to anger him, so if he reconnected with Leifr and his nest as you have suggested then Northman is far more powerful than anyone knows.

Seraphina the Elder does not surround herself with anyone who is not a major player and the only reason I did not consider Northman one myself is because he has laid low the last few centuries.  More specifically, he has made no move to become king even though the Council offered several kingdoms to him over the years.  Clearly, I was mistaken in that line of thought.  Now, I think it best if you lose this number.  Best of luck to you, you are going to need it.”  The phone went dead.

_‘ Shit!’_  That was not good and Bill knew it, first, Bill was not comfortable bringing his laptop anywhere near Eirik so Bill left it at home and therefore did not have a way to return Russell’s money to him from Dallas by the deadline.  That was especially true because Bill was unwilling to risk using his new phone to do the transfer when Eirik would be sent the bill and therefore possibly have access to Bill’s browsing history.  Second, Russell, Bill knew, was his best shot at getting out of that situation with his unlife still intact.  Bill was slightly distracted as he wondered to himself, _‘What was that about Eric destroying whole armies singlehandedly a thousand years ago.  He is only a thousand years old.  Shit!  He must be older than I thought if he was taking on armies without his maker 1,000 years ago.  This is not good.’_

Bill started to head back to the Hotel since he knew he needed to rethink his plan of action, but he stopped walking when he thought about calling the queen and telling her what was happening.  He thought that maybe she would be able to send someone to take Sookie.  It was not how Sophie-Anne had it planned but if Seraphina was as old and powerful as Russell made her out to be then Bill knew his only hope was to get someone with more power and authority to usurp Sera.  He thought if anyone could do that it would be his queen.  The only potential problem he saw with that plan was that Seraphina knew about Bill’s connection to Russell.  He doubted Russell would admit it if asked about it though, so Bill thought maybe that would not be a problem.

Bill took the phone back out of his pocket and dialed the Queen’s headquarters.  A moment later an entirely too chipper and cheerful voice asked, “Sophie-Anne Leclerq’s Office, how may I direct your call?”

“Yes, Bill Compton for the queen.”

“One Moment, Please.”  Bill walked further into the park as the receptionist put him on hold.

“Compton you better have good news for me,” Sophie-Anne practically sing-songed to him.

“Actually Your Majesty, we have a small problem…”  She growled at that, but Bill pressed forward, “We are still in Dallas as I told you the other day but now a woman has entered the playing field, and I feel that I am under qualified to handle her.  She calls herself Seraphina the Elder.  She and Northman have taken possession of Sookie, and I am unable to remove her while Northman is awake.  I feel it best to send some Weres to collect the girl while Northman is dead for the day.  The woman will be out numbered if you send enough Weres and they should be able to get Sookie without much work.”

“Seraphina the Elder, you say?  I have never heard of her.  What is so special about the woman that I need to send Weres to collect my pet?  Kill the woman and be done with it.  Northman will do as I command him, but this woman, one woman should not be such a problem for you William.  What are you not telling me?”  She nearly growled out that last part.

“Well, my queen, the woman is old, far older than any creature I have ever encountered, and she was able to remove me from, and lock me out of, my Suite with just a thought.”

Sophie-Anne sighed heavily then said, “Fine I will send 25 Weres and Demons to deal with it; you just make sure they do not leave the Hotel with my pet.  I will expect both you and my new Telepath to be here by Midnight tomorrow night, do not be late.”  Sophie-Anne hung up on Bill without another word.

He sighed and thought to himself, _‘Okay, now I have to go back to the hotel and make sure they haven’t left.  Although that woman did say something about Sookie’s safety during the next three days being paramount, so maybe they won’t want to move her at all.’_  He left the park and hurried back to the Hotel.

Bill walked through the Hotel Lobby, entered the elevator, and pushed the button for his floor.  When the elevator stopped at the appropriate floor, Bill got off and walked towards his room, only to find the door open.  He stuck his hand in between the door and the doorframe to stop the door from closing shut on him.  When he walked in and called out to Sookie there was no answer.  Upon closer examination, he realized the room was empty of Sookie, her belongings, and anyone else who had been in there with her.  _‘Well shit!  Now what do I do,’_ he thought but then Bill heard Eirik in his room asking, “Was that really necessary, you know how I feel about teleporting…”

“Option number one, Eirik.”  Sera responded though Bill had no idea what she was talking about but he knew that voice definitely belonged to Seraphina.  Bill left his suite, slamming the door on his way out, and began to bang on Eirik’s door.

“Open this door, Northman!  Sookie you’re just another fangbanger to him, nothing but a whore.  He’ll use you up and toss you away when he’s done with you.  He sees you as nothing more than a filthy bloodbag.  If you come with me, I can protect you from him!  Sookie do you hear me?  I know you’re right inside the door!”

When Bill heard no response, Bill decided they were not going anywhere for the time being so he headed back to his Suite, called the queen, and left a message that Sookie was in Eirik’s room, with Eirik and Sera, for the day.  Bill sat down on the couch that smelled so much like Sookie, and Eirik; Bill growled to himself both at the smell and at the fact that the couch was soaking wet.  He wondered, _‘How the fuck did that happen?’_

Hopping off the wet couch, Bill noticed that the whole room looked flooded and the rug on the floor was soggy, how he missed that, he had no idea.  He took great pleasure in reporting the water damage in the room to the Hotel’s front desk and then he went into the bedroom to change into dry clothes before lying down on the thankfully dry bed while he waited for the Weres to arrive.

As he lay there he thought, _‘Maybe if I play my cards right the queen will allow me to punish Sookie for choosing Eric over me.  I don’t see why she chose him.  I was the perfect gentleman to her and she doesn’t know about the women I fucked and fed from when I wasn’t with her, so she shouldn’t have had any reason to doubt my feelings for her.  None of this makes any sense.’_

Bill heard laughing coming from Eirik’s suite and scowled.  When he heard Sookie ask Eirik what it was like to submit Bill just scowled harder, _‘Where on earth did that question come from?’_

Bill listened as Eirik told Sookie she was not supposed to hear ‘that’ and her response.  Bill realized they must have been referring to a conversation they had while he was gone but wondered where they were going.  He listened closer; he must have missed part of their conversation but he heard Sookie say, “I…  I want all the facts this time.  I don’t want any surprises.”  Bill wondered what that was supposed to mean.

Then Bill heard something he never thought he would ever hear, “You are right on all counts, Sookie, I am sorry; I guess old habits really do die hard.”  

Bill’s was amazed, _‘Holy shit did Eric Fucking Northman just admit he was wrong and say sorry all in the same breath?  To a human!?  First Sookie leaves with Eric and now he is apologizing to a mere mortal; what the Fuck is going on?  I feel like I’m in the damn Twilight Zone.’_

“Wow!  I don’t think I’ve ever heard you admit you were wrong about something before.”  Bill thought apparently Sookie found Eirik’s actions just as strange as he did.  Then she shouted, “I heard that!”

Frustrated, Bill wondered, _‘She heard what?  I didn’t hear Eric say anything,’_ and then Sookie whispered so softly Bill had to struggle to make out her words, “I’m looking forward to it too!”   _‘ Huh?  What is she talking about?’_

Bill continued to lay on the bed listening for any clues until about twenty minutes later he heard Eirik ask, “We have a little over five hours until sunrise, what should we do to pass the time?”  Bill listened as Sookie suggested she could sleep, and Bill growled as they bantered back and forth about Eirik laying with her.

Just then, Bill noticed his Childe was nearby and he realized _‘the bothersome brat’_ was with Sookie.  ‘Well good riddance to her.’  He thought before he quickly said the spell his Maker once said to him in his head, and then after piercing his tongue with his fang he spit his blood in the direction of Eirik’s room and fiercely whispered the words, ‘I hereby release you Jessica, my responsibilities to you are no more.’  As the last word passed Bill’s lips, he felt his connection to Jessica snap and he smiled. 

Bill’s smile only got bigger when Jessica asked about what Bill had just done, but he was surprised that they barely talked about it.  Then he was confused minutes later as Eirik asked Jessica if she consented to being his Childe.  Bill wondered, _‘It’s not possible to make a Vampire yours if you didn’t turn them!  Is it?  I’ll have to ask someone more knowledgeable about it later.’_

For the next three hours, Bill laid on the bed trying to figure out where it all went wrong.  A little over an hour and a half before sunrise there was a knock on his door.  Bill opened it to find 20 Weres and probably 10 Demons crowded into the hallway.  He let them into the suite and they started quietly talking business.  They decided that they would storm Eirik’s suite two hours after sunrise in order to ensure that he was truly down for the day.  As they were finishing forming their plans they heard, “We should be going soon, Sera.”  Bill was up and out the door before Eirik finished his sentence.  Bill’s companions gathered around the door as they stood and waited for Eirik to open the door.

Bill was startled to realize that there were three heartbeats in the room and began wondering whom the third one belonged too; one was Sookie, one Seraphina and the other…?  Bill wondered, _‘That dim boy, Hoyt, maybe?’_   Focusing back on the matter at hand Bill figured he would find out in a minute as he heard the group gathering in the bedroom.  Then suddenly all three heartbeats disappeared, and Bill did not hear or sense anyone on the other side of the door.

**_‘_** _Shit!  Not good, not good at all!’_  Bill banged on the door in his frustration.

As he turned to head back to his room, he heard a door open down the hall and a young woman and Jason Stackhouse came out into the hallway.  They had obviously been fucking but now it seemed Jason’s new friend was leaving.  

As Bill watched the woman walk away, after a scorching kiss from Jason, he walked toward Jason’s door; just as Jason closed it Bill stuck his foot in the way and the next thing Jason knew Bill had him by the throat.  “Hello Jason!  You and I need to have a little talk about your sister,” Bill said angrily as the door closed behind him leaving the Weres and Demons in the hallway for the moment.  

As Bill watched Jason’s eyes bulge in his head and Jason’s face began turning red from lack of oxygen Bill thought, _‘Maybe I can still salvage this situation.’_

**________________________________________________________________**

 


	4. Come Quick!

**Revised 2015-01-06**

**________________________________________________________________**

**It’s Elemental**

**By Lilly Gray & Robin McAllister**

**© 2011-2015 Sarah A.  Higgins & Robin McAllister**

**Chapter 004**

**Come Quick!**

**________________________________________________________________**

Jason thought his new lady friend looked just as beautiful putting her clothes back on as she did when he was taking them off her.  Gillette was in town visiting her sister for the week, so Jason hoped to see her again because he thought she was a damn good lay.  He got up off the bed and threw on his jeans without zipping them up to walk her to the door.  As she went to leave Jason grabbed her arm and turned her back to him before planting a hot kiss on her, so when he called her later that day she would, he hoped, be in the mood for a repeat of last night.  He watched as she stepped into the elevator, and then he turned and walked back into his room.  Just as the door finished closing, there was a rush of air and then Jason could barely breathe as Bill tightly gripped the younger man’s throat.  “Hello Jason!  You and I need to have a little talk about your sister.”

“What about my sister?”  Jason rasped out as he tried unsuccessfully to pry Bill’s hand away from his throat.

“The Bitch has fucked up all of my plans.  And you get to pay for her crimes,” Bill growled as he lifted Jason off the ground and reached for the doorknob.  Bill opened the door and Jason thought, _‘Where did all these big huge men come from, and what are they doing standing outside my door.’_ 

Bill tossed Jason to the one in the front, “Find a place to keep him for the day then call me and leave a message saying where you’re at.  I will deal with him after the sun sets.  I don’t mind if you play with him just don’t break anything too important… leave that for me.”

Jason worriedly thought, _‘ Shit!  What the fuck is wrong with Bill!  He’s completely off his rocker.’_  The guy holding on to Jason hefted him over his shoulder as if Jason were a sack of potatoes and started to walk towards the elevator, “Bill, what the fuck?  Let me down!  Bill what’s going on, what’s wrong with you?”

Bill growled and came barreling towards Jason then his head felt as if it would explode as Bill punched him in the face.  Jason thought Bill broke his cheek and his nose; blood was pouring down Jason’s face and since he was hanging upside down, it was running into his eyes and making it hard to see. 

Bill growled, “Get him the fuck out of here before anyone sees or hears him.  I don’t have time to deal with him right now… the sun will be up in forty minutes.  Have a fun day Jason, I’ll see you again when the sun sets.”  Jason could clearly hear the sarcasm in Bill’s voice as he tried to look at Bill but blackness was slowly closing in on his field of vision.  The last thought he had before the darkness enveloped him was, **_‘ SOOKIE HELP ME!’_**

**________________________________________________________________**

Sookie and Hoyt were happily chowing down on their breakfasts while Sera went back to the hotel to get everyone’s luggage.  All of a sudden, Sookie saw the image of Bill’s fist coming at her face and then she heard her brother in her head **_‘ SOOKIE HELP ME!’  _**She jumped off the couch but did not know what to do.  It took her a minute to realize that Bill did not just hit her but she knew she had not imagined it either.

“Sookie, what is wrong?”  Eirik rose from where he was lying on the couch and watching her eat, an activity he apparently enjoyed, watching her eat, that is.  He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, “Sookie, I can smell your tears, what is wrong?”

Tears were in fact pouring down her face but she was too busy trying to concentrate to pay any attention to them; she could not find her brother’s mind again but she knew it was Jason.  He was in trouble and Sookie thought trouble’s name was William T. Compton.  “I-I heard my brother calling for help.”  The tears were really pouring now and she was struggling to breathe and talk at the same time.  “I saw Bill punch him in the face and then there was nothing.  I can’t find him I think he’s unconscious.  I think Bill has him.”  She turned in Eirik’s arms and buried her face in his chest since she could not stop the tears.

Hoyt and Jessica gasped at Sookie’s words about the same time Eirik said, “Shit!  Okay, Sookie, Sookie listen to me we will help your brother.  Bill cannot do anything to him right now since the sun will be rising in less than forty minutes so he is safe for the day.”  He held her to him tightly as he cursed himself for forgetting about the boy whom Eirik knew loved his sister enough to try to rescue her from the Fellowship when he learned she was in danger.

Sookie wondered how Bill planned to keep Jason prisoner during the day but she was afraid to ask, still it was her brother.  He came for her so she decided she was going to do everything in her power to be there for him.  “Eric, how does Bill plan to keep Jason hostage during the day when he’s going to be dead for the day soon.”

Eirik sighed then said softly, “Bill had about thirty Supes with him that were there to help him kidnap you after I went down for the day.  My guess is the Weres and Demons that were in the hallway with Bill when we left the hotel would hold on to him until Bill rises, then who knows what will happen. 

Sookie if we do not form a Blood Bond he will find you when the sun sets since his connection to you is much stronger than mine is at the moment.  Have you given any more thought to Bonding with me?  It will make you stronger, which may help convince me to let you come with me when I go to get your brother back for you.”

“What do you mean ‘let me’, he’s my brother of course I’m going with you,” She growled into his chest as he held her tightly.

“Sookie you are still transforming so by the time the sun sets you will only be half way through the transformation.  We may have to wait until after you finish transforming but if we figure out where Bill is keeping Jason I will go get him for you as soon as possible.  However, if you are not Bonded to me then there is no way in Hell that I will let you go anywhere near Bill Compton.  Right now, his claim over you is stronger than mine is; I have no leverage. 

Physically he cannot touch you while you are with me but he could go to the Magister if he thinks of it and claim that I am interfering in a fledgling Blood Bond.  You would have to go before the Magister and publicly and verbally, revoke any claim he has on you, but that would take too much time and risk the Queen kidnapping you in the interim. 

Unless you finish a Blood Bond with me, I will not be able to stop him from taking you until after the Magister makes his ruling.  However, that would give Bill plenty of time to either finish the Blood Bond he started with you by force or deliver you to the Queen.  She would then promptly Blood Bond you to her and then Turn you; I would be helpless to stop it without you officially being mine through a Blood Bond.”

Sookie stopped and thought about what he was really saying.  She had already chosen Eirik so forming a Blood Bond with him only seemed natural.  “So then we should Bond.”

Eirik grabbed hold of her arms and pushed her away from him so he could see her face.  “Are you sure Sookie, once a bond is formed it cannot be undone so you must be sure this is what you want!”

“Eric, even if I didn’t want you, want to be yours, you’re my only way of out of the queen’s clutches and away from Bill.  Nevertheless, I decided I wanted to Bond to you when I heard you practically yelling at Sera that you would have stopped Bill’s charade as soon as you knew about it, that you would have done whatever it took to protect me from him.  I… you said you could love me very soon, well, I think I could love you too if given a chance.  I want to be yours, but make no mistake you will be mine too!  I don’t share.”  He was smiling down at her as Hoyt and Jessica giggled at her proclamation but Eirik did not say anything, “Please say something Eric.”

“I am sorry this is rushed and that you are being forced to make this…”

“I’m not I’m…”

“You are!  I know you chose me outside of what is going on but we would not need to make three Mutual Blood Exchanges in a matter of hours if Bill was not forcing your hand.  For that, I am sorry.  I am not sorry that you will be mine though. 

For the record, I will definitely be yours and I am glad you do not share because neither do I.”  He pushed her back towards the couch, “Finish your breakfast, you need all your strength.  When you are done, we will retire for the day, and when you wake up, we will do the Exchanges.  I think waiting a half hour between each Exchange should be long enough between them to make them three separate Exchanges.

Jessica the first room on the left is yours and Hoyt’s; the sun will be up in about twenty minutes so you should hurry in there since you will die with the sunrise.”

She nodded and kissed Hoyt’s cheek as she wished everyone a good day.  As she passed Sookie Jessica whispered, “Sook, I’ll say a prayer for Jason before I go to rest, okay?”

“Thank you Jessica I appreciate that,” Sookie replied to Jessica’s heart felt words as Sookie walked over to the couch to finish her food, pulling Eirik along with her.  “Sit with me I don’t want to be alone,” she turned to Hoyt and told him sheepishly, “no offense Hoyt, but he makes me feel safe.” 

Hoyt smiled and said it was no problem as Sookie sat and Eirik sat by her side holding her hand.

“You will never be alone again my sweet Sookie, I promise;” Eirik pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.  “Now eat and we will worry about everything else when you are done.  Sera should be back by then and we can fill her in on what is going on and maybe she can spend the day trying to figure out where they are keeping Jason.”

Sookie ate quickly, no longer tasting the food and barely chewing it before swallowing, but she knew she needed to eat all of it so she did.  She would do whatever she must to help Jason.  When she finished eating, she pushed her plate away and waited for Eirik to say or do something.

He did not let her down as he rose, still holding her hand, and pulled her up and into his arms, then he lifted her bridal style before turning to face Hoyt, “We will see you when the sun sets, Hoyt, have a good day.” 

After Hoyt returned Eirik’s sentiment, Eirik turned and walked down the hallway.  He pushed open a door on the left and walked in, placing her on a bed.  Reaching over he turned on a bedside light, “The sun will rise in about five minutes.  You have just enough time to change into sleep clothes before you are forced to rest.”

He handed her one of his t-shirts from a drawer as she asked, “What’s it feel like, dying for the day that is.” 

“I do not know how to explain it; one minute I am awake and aware and the next I know nothing.  Then just as suddenly, I am aware again and looking at the clock lets me know a few hours have passed.  My ability to feel where the sun is in the sky tells me this too, but I usually look at a clock just to check.  I have been doing that since I got my first clock.  My instincts have never been wrong and I always know what time it is before I look at the clock but I still check.” 

As he talked, he turned down the bed and after changing faster than she could see into a pair of lounge pants, he sat on the bed and reached out his hand to her.  Despite being distracted by his shirtless chest she was still obviously nervous about dying for the day so he told me, “I will be here when you die for the day and I will still be right here when you wake.  Sera told us I will not die until after your transformation is complete so not only will I be here but I will be awake and coherent.”

He pulled her onto the bed and laid down before pulling her into his arms.  Resting her head on his chest with her arm lying across his stomach Sookie whispered, “I’m scared, Eric.”

“I know, I was too the first time it happened to me and after all these years I still do not know how to ease your fear.  I do not think anything I say will make you feel better.  However, I do think after the first time you will know what it feels like and it will not be so scary after that.  The good news is you will only die for three hours and only during your transformation.  Once the transformation is complete you will sleep like a human when you choose to sleep.”

As he said the last word, he felt two things, one the sun as it broke across the horizon and two Sookie as she went slack, stopped breathing, and her heartbeat went silent.

Eirik went into downtime as he waited for Sookie to rise entertaining himself with thoughts of what he would do to Bill if so much as a single hair was displaced on Jason when they rescued him.

Three hours later on the dot Sookie gasped for breath and her heart immediately started beating again.  “Welcome back Sookie.”

Her arm tightened around Eirik’s stomach as she struggled to stop gasping.  “In through your mouth and out through your nose Sookie.” 

She did as he instructed and a moment later, her breathing calmed.  She looked up at him and whispered, “That was weird; one minute you were talking to me and the next I was gasping for breath.  I assume the three hours is up.”

“Indeed.”

“So we should start the Bond then, yes?”

“Are you sure Sookie?”  he asked softly, as though he was afraid she changed her mind but she had not changed her mind, quite the opposite really, as she had never been surer of anything in her life.

“I’m sure my Eric.  I want this.”  She leaned up and kissed him softly.  The kiss quickly heated up with their tongues dueling for dominance.  When Sookie felt Eirik’s fangs snap down, she abandoned his tongue in search of his fangs; she swirled her tongue around one and he moaned as he rolled to push her into the bed, so she swirled her tongue around the other fang.  She could feel his erection pressing into her thigh.  Trailing his kisses down her throat, he rested his mouth right by her ear as he asked, “Do you want me to go first or do you want to taste me first?”  While he waited for her answer, he kissed behind her ear and gave it a little lick.

“Ugh, you, you go first, please.”  She could barely get the words out between pants.

“As my lady wishes,” and she felt him kiss from her ear and down her throat.  She felt the blood pounding in her veins as Eirik paused just above her jugular.  He kissed and licked his chosen spot a couple of times and then her world exploded as he bit down.  Her whole body shuddered with the most intense orgasm of her life.  She felt him pulling on the wound against her throat and then he pulled back and licked the wound closed.  Her body was still, still, trembling from her orgasm.  Suddenly Eirik flipped them and she was laying on top of him.

“I don’t think I can bite you,” Sookie said softly as she looked down at him uncertainly.  His hand reached out to the table by the bed and he grabbed something.  When he pulled it to his neck, Sookie realized it was a dagger.  He would use it to cut himself so she did not have to bite him.  “Thank you.”

He looked into her eyes, “I will keep the wound from healing for as long as I can, but I need to warn you that this is going to be very erotic for me.  I am likely to get distracted.  I have dreamt about this, Goddess how I have dreamt about this. 

Ready?”  he asked her.

She nodded yes and watched as Eirik pulled the dagger across his neck.  “Now Sookie, now!”  She quickly leaned down and latched her mouth onto his neck.  The first taste of his blood blossomed across her tongue, eliciting the thought, _‘ Holy Shit!Bill never tasted like this,’_ she also did not remember that taste from when Eirik tricked her, though admittedly at the time she was preoccupied with ‘saving his life.’  He groaned as she decided his blood was just barely salty, it was sweet more than anything else; like a liquid chocolate and the Brandy her daddy used to drink when he came home from work that was what Eirik tasted like as she swallowed repeatedly.  She could not get enough of him. 

Then she felt what he was feeling even stronger than earlier in the day.  It was almost overwhelming, but it was also comforting in its fierceness.  He may have skirted around the issue today but Sookie could feel Eirik’s love for her blooming in her chest and God she thought it felt amazing. 

His wound healed about the same time she felt him shudder beneath her causing her to think, _‘Holy hell did he just cum from me drinking his blood?’_ 

“Sookieee.  Oh Goddess!”Eirik was shaking beneath her with little aftershocks and she was just laying on top of him in shock that she made him cum.

Sookie smiled a womanly smile into his neck and started to kiss it where the wound had been.  She kissed down his neck to his collarbone.  She never realized how sexy collarbones could be.  After a while of paying homage to his very sexy collarbone, she began to kiss down to his chest.  She licked the edges of his muscles as his hands came up to rest on the back of her head, applying a little pressure, but mostly just resting on her head.  She kissed down and around his pectorals and then she zeroed in on the hard little buds in the middle of each pectoral.  She experimentally licked one and then blew on it for which Eirik rewarded her with a groan and a shudder.

“Goddess Sookie, please do not stop.  That feels so good.”  Eirik ran a hand down her back and thigh and then back up under her T-shirt.  His hand against her naked flesh felt so good.  She felt as if she were burning up and his hand felt cool and comforting against her leg as it trailed up and down her warm flesh. 

She sat back up for a minute and wiggled a little as she pulled the oversized T-shirt up to her waist and then completely shucked it off, leaving her in her little pink lace boy short panties and a matching strapless bra. 

“Goddess, Sookie, you are so beautiful, come here, let me touch you,” his hands started to trail over her back, light as a feather, up and then down and then up and then down, so slowly, as she leaned over him and resumed her attention to his nipple.  She licked it again and received the same groan, and when she blew air across it, Eirik shuddered again, so she decided to find out what would happen if she bit it.  She gently placed her teeth around it, sucking it between her teeth and bit down just a little. 

She felt Eirik’s hands fiddling with the catch on her bra and then it popped open and the next thing Sookie knew she was laying on her back with Eirik’s mouth moving softly across her clavicles and cleavage before moving down to her chest as he pulled her bra away from her skin.  He paused for a moment and looked down into her eyes, “You are so beautiful Sookie.  I cannot get enough of you.”  He went back to kissing her chest, and she arched beneath him, as his mouth closed over her nipple and sucked it into his mouth between his fangs.

She felt his tongue swirl around her bud and the scrape of his fangs against her flesh then suddenly he bit down with his fangs as he fed from her breast.  It was the most incredible thing she had ever felt.  “Ah Eric, please, oh God!  Please!”  Sookie felt the coil in her belly grow tighter and tighter with each suck of his mouth, and then suddenly she flew off the edge and straight into her orgasm.

“Oh My God!”She practically screamed as she felt Eirik lick the wound closed after a moment.  When he finished tending to her wound, he reached for the dagger that was laying on the bed next to them.  He brought it up to his pectoral and sliced deeply causing her to immediately reach up and latch onto him, sucking and swallowing as much of him as fast as she could. 

She was still trembling from her orgasm just a moment ago, but she felt the coil wrap tighter around her stomach as she absentmindedly thought, _‘ Oh God I’m going to cum just by feeding from him.’_ 

Sookie felt Eirik tense and then shudder and suddenly she was tumbling over the edge into her third orgasm of the day.  She pulled her mouth away from his chest as she felt the wound close.  “Eric, that was…” she panted a little between words, “that was amazing!  I’ve never felt anything so amazing.”

“I agree,” he said as he slid down a bit to kiss along her ribcage and belly.  He did that for a few glorious moments even spending some time worshipping her bellybutton, which made her giggle a couple of times.  Then he kissed his way back up her chest and along to the delicious skin of her neck before he ghosted his mouth across her cheek to her mouth.  Their tongues dueled for dominance once again and she flicked her tongue around his fangs occasionally. 

His tongue slid over her teeth, and she never thought teeth could be an erogenous zone, but she really liked when he licked over her teeth and the roof of her mouth… it was intimate in a way she never experienced before Eirik.  Bill always just shoved his tongue down Sookie’s throat; he never let his tongue play with hers or really seemed to enjoy kissing her, but she could tell Eirik was totally and completely into kissing her. 

He pulled away slightly and kissed over her chin and down to her neck then over to her ear, he pulled the lobe between his teeth and nibbled it gently.

“Ugh, please don’t stop, that feels so good.”  She whispered as her hands brushed over his back traveling up to grab his hair, feeling the muscles move beneath his skin.

“Can you handle one more Exchange Sookie or do you need to rest first?”  He whispered into her ear and _‘ God’_ Sookie thought that was sexy, then again, Eirik could probably read the grocery list in that whisper and have her on the verge of cumming all over again.

“Please.”  She felt herself getting ready to plead and beg.

He kissed down her throat and back down to her chest.  That time he began kissing all over the other breast before zeroing on the nipple.  Sookie thought blissfully, _‘ God does that feel good!’_  There went his tongue swirling around the nipple again causing her to moan aloud, “hhmmm.”  He nipped at it with his blunt teeth and then she felt his fangs snap down again before he dragged them over her sensitive tip repeatedly until she was practically crying it felt so amazing, and then he bit down causing stars to explode behind her eyes as she came yet again.

He felt so good against her; she decided she wanted him inside her, “In…  Inside, please”

Eirik licked the wound closed and then kissed back up to her mouth.  She could taste her blood in his mouth and as gross as she thought that would be she actually found it to be really hot!He grabbed the dagger again and pulled it across the same pectoral just above his nipple.  She latched on for all she was worth.  After a few swallows she felt a shift inside her and ‘Oh God!’  She felt everything he was feeling, and she could hear him thinking about how amazing she was and how happy he was that they were one being now. 

She tried to persuade him again, “Inside, please, I need…”  She reached down to try to pull his pants down.

“What do you need Princess?”  he asked in a husky voice that almost did not sound like him.

“You, I need you, inside me, please Eric, I neeeed you!  Please.”  She was practically crying from her desperate need.

Eirik’s hand moved to her hair, and he softly stroked her hair back from her face.  “It is okay Sookie, I have you, shhh, it is okay.”  She pulled on his pants again and grunted in frustration.

“Inside… please.”

“Not like this Princess, when you give me your body I want you to give it freely, not because you are scared… we did what needed to be done and now I am going to hold you while we come down from our high.”

“No, please, I need you, please.”  She was desperate now, “Please.”

“Sookie,” He gripped her chin and turned her head so that he could look straight into her lust filled eyes.  “I want you so badly Sookie,”

“Then take me!”  She whimpered a little as she thrust her hips up into his.

He groaned then, “Goddess, Sookie, I cannot…  I promised myself that we would enjoy each other completely without Bill hanging over your head.  I need to know that you chose this, chose me, when you were not crazy with lust.  I do not believe sex is what you had in mind when you agreed to Bond with me… so as far as I am concerned you agreed to three Mutual Blood Exchanges and nothing else.  I knew we would cum from the experience, but I knew it would not go any further than that.  Please I need you to understand.  I cannot break my promise to you or myself.”

She had tears streaming down her face, at first they were tears of frustration but now, feeling his emotions well up inside her, she was crying because he really, reallyloved her and she felt his fear that she would hate him if they went further.  She did not think she could ever actually hate him, but as she came down from her high, she realized that Eirik was correct; she needed to choose to make love to him when she was not crazy with lust, and it needed not to be while she was worried about her brother too.

“Are you better now, Sookie?  You feel better!”  Eirik asked as he looked down into her eyes and stroked her damp cheeks.

“I’m better now, Eric, thank you, for knowing what I needed more than I did, thank you for stopping.  I want our first time to be special and I want to freely choose it like you said, so thank you.”

“You are welcome; we have forever now, so there is no rush.  When you are ready you let me know okay?”  He paused as if in deep thought.

His stopping things before they went too far coupled with his thoughts, which she could hear, made her realize she had made the correct decision when she chose to trust him.  There was nothing duplicitous or underhanded about his thoughts.  She could easily see that he was happy she trusted him enough to Bond with him because he was certain she would not have approved of her fate had Bill, the queen, or Russell gotten their ways. 

In fact, Eirik had very explicit ideas on what her life could have been.  Those thoughts scared her but then she reminded herself that she had chosen to have faith in Eirik and his thoughts on what he wanted for her future were far more pleasing to her.  Though she thought, she might have to have a talk with him at some point about trying to spoil her.  She was not a kept woman!

She came out of her thoughts and noticed the pained face Eirik was making so she asked, “What’s wrong Eric?”

“Nothing is wrong I am just trying to decide if I should bring up the possibility of my giving you the Marks.  I do not want to overwhelm you but I would feel better if I gave you the Marks, and I cannot for the life of me figure out if it is my instincts warning me of danger ahead or my instincts wanting to make you mine in every way,” he leaned down and kissed her softly.

“What are the Marks?”  Sookie asked.  She could feel the need inside of him to do that, to Mark her, but she did not know what it might entail.  “I need all the facts, like we talked about earlier.”

He rolled them to their sides and pulled her closer to him.  “Okay I will try to explain what they are but you need to understand that I have never given anyone the Marks before so I only know what I have been told by Leifr and Godric.  It might be best to have you talk to Sera about it since Leifr gave her the Marks; so she knows what it feels like and what it ultimately will do to us. 

Honestly I am not even sure I can give you all of the Marks, but damn it I want to try,” His voice trembled with need.

“Shh, it’s okay, we’ll try, you’ll tell me what you know and then I can talk to Sera and then we can try okay?”

**________________________________________________________________**

**Earlier in the day just after Sera left the safe house**

Sera left Eirik and Sookie to her breakfast.  Sera remembered that part in greater detail, not the food she actually ate, but Leifr watching her every move as though it was the most fascinating thing ever, which she supposed to him she was.

She headed back to the Hotel to get their luggage.  She ‘popped’ into Eirik’s Suite and grabbed the bags.  Just as she was about to leave she heard, “Bill, What the Fuck?  Let me down!  Bill what is going on, what’s wrong with you?”

She recognized the voice as one she had not heard outside her own head in a very long time.  That was Sookie’s brother, Jason, speaking.  Sera opened the door a crack; just in time to see Bill punch the poor man in the face.  Sera heard the unmistakable sound of his cheekbone and his nose as they broke from the impact.   _‘ Goddess!’_  She thought Bill hit Jason with almost his full strength or at least much harder than you should hit a human in the head.

She contemplated her options, _‘Hmmm what to do?’_  

She heard one of her many inner voices clearly, as he said, ‘Follow and report back.’

_‘But that is Sookie’s brother I cannot just leave him with them, there is no telling what they will do to him.’_   She internally countered angrily.

‘You know exactly what they’ll do to him but it’s his destiny.  Just make sure Sookie gets there in time to save him from his Final Death but ultimately this is his Fate.”  The voice of Sera’s brother tried to be gentle but Sera did not want Sookie to have to make the choices she, herself, had been forced to make.

Sera decided upon closer inspection that she could not save him by herself because there were at least thirty bad guys.  Half of them appeared to be Demons so they would be harder to defeat than the Weres; she would have to kill them all and any one of them might have someone who would come looking for them so she knew it was best not kill them all. 

Her best option was to follow them and find out where they were holding Jason then go tell Eirik what was going on.  That did not mean Sera was not angry at the voice for suggesting she leave the boy to his Fate.  She thought petulantly, _‘His Fate sucks and this will hurt Sookie deeply!’_

Grudgingly, Sera cloaked herself so the creatures taking Jason hostage would not be able to see or sense her before following behind them.  She ‘popped’ into the hallway leading off the Lobby and waited for them, and a few moments later, they exited the stairwell.  She followed at a safe distance but the back door slammed closed before she could get through it so she ‘popped’ to the other side of the door and watched as they loaded Jason into a black van.  As they drove off, Sera prepared herself for a long and fast run and then took off after them. 

Thirty minutes later, they pulled up to the back entrance of a warehouse and carried Jason inside.  Sera watched through a window near the ceiling as they tossed Jason to the floor, and she waited for more than two hours to see if they said anything about moving to a different location.  They did not; all they did was torment Jason with kicks and cigarette burns to his flesh.  His screams etched themselves into Sera’s mind for all time, but Jason’s refusal, in the face of extreme pain and torment, to betray his sister in any way, however slight, would also stay with Sera for the rest of her existence.

She left and went back to the Hotel, grabbed Eirik, Sookie, Jessica, and Hoyt’s things and ‘popped’ back over to the house.  It took her three trips to get all their luggage down the staircase and into the living room of the underground lair since she could not just teleport down there because of all the wards and such.  She listened and heard the sound of Hoyt’s heart beating at rest but not Sookie’s, so she realized that then was not the best time to tell them what she knew.  She steeled herself for a long wait and sat down on the couch to contemplate the unfairness of life.

**________________________________________________________________**

Jason felt as though he was floating in the middle of nothing.  Slowly the nothing became the backyard of Gran’s house, and he saw Gran hanging a load of laundry.  He walked towards her smiling as she turned to give him one of her famous hugs.  “I’ve missed you Gran!”  He said as tears fell down his face.

“I know my dear boy.  I have missed you as well.  We don’t have much time.  I must explain your choices to you, and then let you make your decision on your own, but know this; I love you very much, always have and always will!”

“What choices Gran?”  He asked quietly.  It was peaceful there, and he did not want to disturb that peace.

“Sookie is starting on a new path, one that will cross time and space and you need to decide if you are going to die by Bill Compton’s hand and get reincarnated or if you are going to ask Eirik or Sookie to save you.  If Eirik or his GrandMaker, Leifr, saves you, you will be a Vampire.  Don’t frown; you have seen recently that they are not all bad.  They are not all Compton.  You like Eirik right?”

Jason nodded and he meant that.  Eirik was the only Vampire Jason saw actually try to save Sookie while in Dallas.  Not only that, but Eirik did not just save her once but twice, both times at great risk to himself.  Jason thought many Vampires were probably exactly like Bill but he knew Eirik Northman was not one of them.

Jason actually thought Eirik would be good for his sister.  If Jason had to put up with his baby sister being with a man, any man, well Eirik was the exact type of man Jason would hope she would find and settle down with for the rest of her life.  He thought her self-esteem and self-image would rise with a powerful and so very coveted man like Eirik wanting her as badly as Jason knew Eirik did. 

Not that Sookie would care about Eirik’s power, or how many other woman might want him, but the fact that out of all of his numerous choices Eirik chose her would certainly boost her ego, which in Jason’s humble opinion could use a boost.  All things considered, there were a lot worse men with which Sookie could choose to spend her life.  In Jason’s opinion, all of them would be a million times more dangerous to Sookie than Eirik Northman ever would be.  Jason thought, _‘Like, oh say Bill Compton.’_  

More than that though Jason felt deep within his soul that Eirik was intended for Sookie, or maybe she was intended for him, either way Jason was pretty sure fate and destiny were involved in getting the two of them together.  Gran nodded as though she could hear Jason’s thoughts and then she continued, “Good so don’t discount the notion based on a knee jerk reaction. 

Now Eirik and Leifr are not your only options; Sookie can save you.  She can, but your existence will be inexorably linked to hers forever.  Where she goes so will you.  You won’t have a body of your own, but your spirit will survive inside her body for all of eternity. 

Being Vampire or Spirit are the only ways to keep the two of you together throughout time.  There is a slim chance that if you choose reincarnation that you might meet up with her in another life at some point down the road.  She would remember you, but you likely would not remember her. 

Therefore, your choices are to stay by Sookie’s side and continue to help protect her as you have your whole life or separate from her forever; if you choose to remain by her side I will teach Sookie how to bring you into herself in case they cannot Turn you in time or you cannot ask to be Turned. 

Now I should not tell you this, but you will find a happiness you never knew existed if you choose correctly and correctly is not necessarily reincarnation.  So sit and enjoy the sun for a while and think on what I have said.  I’ll let you know when it’s time for you to leave, and you can give me your answer.”  She shooed Jason away and went back to tending to her laundry.

Jason on the other hand, sat on Sookie’s old lawn chair.  He felt the sun beating on him, warming him as he sighed happily.  It was good to see Gran again, even if it was in a dream. 

Her words though told him that was not a regular dream so he got down to business and started analyzing his choices.  _‘Never see Sookie again, or stay with her always, either as a Vampire or stuck inside of her for all of eternity.  Gran said I would continue to protect Sookie that way, but I want my own life and my own body too!  I don’t know what to choose.’_

Several hours later, he was no closer to making a decision when Gran walked over to him and asked him if he had made his choice.  _‘Well here goes nothing.’_   “I choose to…”

The last thing Jason heard before intense pain woke him up was, “You made the right choice my dear boy, you will be happier than you ever thought you could be.  I Love you, always remember that.”

Then Jason felt a foot, with what he assumed was a steel covered toe, crash into his stomach again.  “UGH” Jason lost his breath and struggled to regain it before the man kicked him again.

“John that’s enough, he’s awake.”  Jason saw a stocky guy push off the wall and come to stand above him.  “What can you tell us about the Telepath our Queen wants so badly?”

Decision made Jason looked up at the man as confidently as he could and said, “Queen?  What are you talkin’ about?  I don’t know nothin’ ’bout no Queen, and I don’t know nothing ’bout no Telepath.”  That time the foot caught Jason’s jaw and he was pretty sure it was cracked though it still seemed to work.”

“John, not the mouth, he can’t give us answers if he can’t talk cuz you broke his jaw.”

The man in charge squatted beside Jason and told him, “If you answer our questions we’ll kill you before the Vampire rises, that way he won’t be able to torture you, well more than we already have that is.”

Jason worriedly thought, _‘I can’t die before Sookie gets here I have to speak with her!’_   Still he just lay there and said nothing, and moments later, he felt his knee shatter.  **‘ _God it  hurts!_  _I LOVE YOU SOOKIE!  COME QUICK! ’  _**He shouted to her mind hoping she could in fact hear him.

**________________________________________________________________**


	5. Waiting For The Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 2015-01-07  
> Author’s note: Okay, two chapters in one day! Yay me! Lol. So this one is a little shorter than the previous ones, but it packs a punch, so you may need tissues for a couple parts of it. I actually caught myself wiping away tears at one point, but then again I cry at the drop of a hat, so who knows… I am unsure when the next chapter will be ready to post. I haven’t started chapter 006 and I noticed the other day when I read through the whole story from start to finish that there were more and more discrepancies the farther I got into the story so I have the feeling the time between chapters is going to increase the farther along we get. Plus I only have 14 and part of 15 written so far so once we get done with 14 I’ll be writing them before I get to the editing part…. duh…lol… okay that was silly anyway, the point is it is going to take more and more work to make the chapters presentable the farther into we get just so you know.

**________________________________________________________________**

**It’s Elemental**

**By Lilly Gray & Robin McAllister**

**© 2011-2015 Sarah A.  Higgins & Robin McAllister**

**Chapter 005**

**Waiting For The Pain**

**________________________________________________________________**

**Mid-afternoon on Friday, October 17, 2008**

As Sookie lay there wrapped in Eirik’s arms, she realized that despite her heavy thoughts she had never felt so peaceful before.  Eirik was playing with her hair with one hand and softly caressing her bare back with his other hand, which Sookie found incredibly comforting if not a little arousing.  “Is it weird that I feel like I could sleep more?”

“No, the death sleep likely did or allowed different things to happen to your body than regular sleep would.  I would guess that you need both forms of sleep throughout the transformation process. 

I might be able to sleep too even though I will not fall into the death sleep.  However, right now I am enjoying laying here with you.”  So they did just that and before Sookie knew it, they were both drifting off to sleep.

Sookie was floating in a sea of Love and she saw the faces of all of her dearly departed loved ones, her momma, daddy, aunt Linda, a man who Gran always said was a distant relative named Fintan, Gramps, and Gran.  The last started to walk toward Sookie and she moved to meet the woman halfway.  “Gran, I miss you!  I wish you had met Eric I think you’d have seen right through the tough exterior long before I ever did.”

“I miss you too Sookie, but you have a Destiny.  I am glad you found your Mate; he will be good to you and good for you.  I like who you are with him; you seem lighter somehow despite all the heaviness surrounding you.”

Gran smiled at Sookie and then it faded a little, “Sookie we are here to teach you how to do something very important.  Sometime very soon, you are going to face the death of a loved one.  We are going to teach you how to help him reach his destiny.  You must focus and feel his energy, here try it on your mother.  Focus, that’s it now pull her essence into you.”

That was easier said than done, but after a moment Sookie figured it out, and she gently pulled her mother into herself.  “Well done Sookie!  Now try your Father.”  She ultimately ended up pulling all six of them into her.  Then she just stood there wondering, “Now what?”

She heard a voice inside her head that was familiar, “Now you wait for Jason’s call.”

_‘Oh My God they’re actually inside me.’_  “Is, is this permanent… will you always be inside me?”

“Yes my darling daughter we will always reside inside you now.  With practice, you will be able to hear us while you are awake as well.  We will help guide you through the ages,” Her mother’s soft and comforting voice said to her.  Sookie felt all warm inside as she thought, _‘Sera did say I’d never be alone again!’_

**_‘I LOVE YOU SOOKIE! COME QUICK!’_**  She woke with a start.  **_‘JASON I’M COMING!’_**

She got up gently so as not to wake Eirik and threw her bra and dress back on.  After staring at Eirik in his peaceful repose for a few long minutes Sookie walked out to the main room and saw Sera sitting there in what appeared to be the Elemental Version of the Vampires’ ‘Downtime’.  As Sookie approached Sera, Sookie saw her twitch and then she was smiling at Sookie.

“Have a good rest?”  Sera asked with a sly smile on her face.

“Yes,” Sookie blushed as she answered her, “that is until Jason woke me up yelling for me to hurry!  Bill has Weres or something holding him hostage and…  oh god…  Jason is going to die, but Gran taught me how to pull him into myself.  I have to get there before he dies.”  She was nearing hysterics at that point.

“Sookie, calm down, you cannot help him if you do not stay calm and focused.”  Sera said gently.  She sympathized with Sookie, as she had had to make similar choices and sacrifices when she was young too.  She longed to tell Sookie about her life, and to tell her how similar they truly were.  However, Sera knew it was not time for that yet, so she kept her mouth quiet though her eyes spoke of her understanding of Sookie’s pain.

Sookie saw Sera’s understanding in her eyes, and although she did not know the true depth of that understanding Sookie knew Sera was right, so she tried to take deep breaths in and out through her nose.  After a few moments, she began to calm.  “Sera, how are we going to find him?  Dallas is huge.” 

Sookie thought, _‘God it’s hard to breathe.’_

“I actually know where he is, and before you ask I am not telling you until Eirik wakes up then we can all decide what the best plan of action is going to be!”  Sera said it all very firmly and Sookie knew arguing would only serve to frustrate her more.

“How much longer will it be until Eric wakes up?”  Sookie asked somewhat huffily but she figured her brother was counting on her so she was entitled to be a little huffy.

“He is sleeping as humans do not as Vampires do so I see him waking in a little less than 20 minutes.  You should go in, lie with him, and be there when he wakes up; I know that is a dream of his.  Then once he is awake we can decide what to do next.”  Sera paused as if to weigh her next words, “But do not worry, I am going to help you convince Eirik to let you go with us.  However, there will be no fighting for you… you will wait behind us with your shield wrapped tightly around yourself.  You still have a little more than 36 hours until the transformation is complete.  Nothing can happen to you; too many people are counting on you to survive.  Now go back and lay with Eirik, you have 15 minutes.”

Sookie went back to the room she was sharing with Eirik and laid down next to him.  She gently moved his arm so that she could snuggle up to him with his shoulder under her head.  He instinctively wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him as he continued to sleep.  She sighed at the feeling of him surrounding her again, and counted down the minutes until he would wake up.  She thought they were the longest 15 minutes of her life!

“Hmm.  I could get used to waking like this,” he said as he pulled her on top of him while his eyes fluttered open.  He took one look at Sookie’s sad upturned face and even if he could not feel all her pain through their new bond he would have known something was terribly wrong so he asked, “Princess what is wrong?”

She began to cry and he pulled her more firmly atop him as she tried to explain about her dream and then Jason’s screams waking her up.  As he gently caressed her hair, he placed a kiss on the crown of her head and then told her, “Shh princess we will get you to him in time.  I promise to do everything in my power to make that happen, okay.  Let me take a quick shower since I came in my pants earlier and we can go find out the details of what Sera has discovered.” 

Sookie blushed when he mentioned cumming in his pants, but he ignored the blush for the time being, and he was out of bed quicker than she could see.  Suddenly she heard the water turn on and almost as quickly turn off.  Then just as suddenly he was standing before her in a new pair of jeans, and a quick moment later, he had his shirt back on.  Holding his hand out to her, he helped her off the bed and followed her out to the main room.

Eirik nodded to Hoyt who was just coming out of his room rubbing his eyes.  “Sera, what do we know?”  Eirik asked as they all sat on the couch next to Sera.

“Well, there were twenty or so Weres and about fifteen or so Demons so even if my internal voices had not made it perfectly clear that I was only to follow and report back I would not have been able to rescue him.”  She looked at Sookie apologetically.

“You did the right thing Sera, now we know where he is and we can go get him as soon as the sun sets,” he said to Sera.

“Compton will have to call to get a location, but we already know where he is, so we should be able to get there about the same time he does, if not just slightly before him.”  She continued, “At the warehouse about half the muscle was standing outside keeping watch and the other half were inside with Jason.”

“Umm Eric, how long do you think it’ll take for Bill to realize he can’t feel me anymore?”  Sookie asked cautiously.

“Probably pretty fast, though knowing him he might not realize exactly what it means until he smells my scent in your blood.  You smell of me now, so when we go to get Jason Bill will be able to tell that we have bonded.” 

“Okay, so how long until sunset and how long will it take to get us there?”  Sookie asked either of them.

Eirik answered the first part, “3 ½ hours or so until sunset.”

Sera picked up where he stopped, “It took about 30 minutes this morning to drive from the Hotel to the warehouse.  Despite it being so close to rush hour when we go it should only be about a fifteen minute ride from here, and if we go on foot it will be even quicker.”

Eirik interrupted Sera, “Can we risk going on foot?  Sookie’s transition is not complete so she is not going to be at full power.  If she runs there, that might take crucial energy from her reserves.  I realize there is nothing we can do about her not being up to full power, but I will be damned if we do anything to weaken her.”  He growled the last part.

Sookie shifted beside him and then asked, “Would it weaken you to carry me there?  Then I wouldn’t be expending any energy!”  She suggested with hope.

“Who is going to carry you when we come back here?  Jason is too tall for Sera to be able to hold him comfortably or safely.  If he is as injured as I suspect he is, I will be the only one who will be able to carry him without further risking his health.  Furthermore, you and Sera are about the same size so it would be difficult for her to carry you too, so that would mean you would have to run on your own expending precious and needed energy on the way home.  I would really rather we drive, that way you stay safe and we get Jason out of there as fast as possible.”  He said it all rather reasonably.

“I don’t know that we’re going to have to worry about hurting Jason, he’s probably not going to… but I’d hate to be wrong and not be prepared for it so we’ll take a car just to be safe.”  Sookie responded quietly her fear and sadness apparent to all three of her companions.

Eirik pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.  “I know this is difficult for you, Sookie, but I am really impressed and very proud of how you are handling all of this.  I just want you to know that.”

She snuggled into his chest and prepared herself to sit and wait for 3 hours, hoping against hope that Jason could hold out that long.

**________________________________________________________________**

**Sunset (6:51 PM)** **on Friday, October 17, 2008**

The first thing Bill did when he rose was try to feel where Sookie was but he could not feel her at all.  His sense of disconnect prompted angry thoughts, _‘What the FUCK!  This is not possible.  I wonder how the hell she is blocking me, unless that slut Bonded to Northman.  She hates him though, so I don’t see her doing that, but how else could she be blocking me?  The queen is going to be very angry if Northman Blood Bonded with Sookie.  I suppose all I can do is hope Sophie-Anne does not try to kill the messenger if Sookie did in fact bond to that self-righteous asshole.’_

Bill picked up his shiny new iPhone and dialed the number for his voice mail.

“You have one new message,” his phone announced to him, “First message, received today at 8:06 AM.”

“We got him in a warehouse just outside of town… the address is…”

Bill looked up the address on his phone.  He thought, _‘good, even though at this hour it would take the better part of an hour by car with all the traffic of Downtown Dallas at most it is a 15 minute run._

_Now I need to find someone to snack on.’_  He decided he did not require a full meal since he planned to be feasting on Jason later that night, _‘preferably as his slut of a sister watches helplessly.’_   With that in mind, Bill called Sookie’s cell phone, but it went directly to voice mail, so he resigned himself to making his demands to her voice mail, but he was sure she would use her phone to try to get in touch with Jason and hear Bill’s voicemail.  Therefore, Bill was certain it would not be long before she called him back, frantic about what he had done to her brother.

Bill showered and changed in under three minutes.  _‘God I love being a Vampire,’_ he thought happily.  Soon, he was heading for the elevator to see if he could find his snack down in the lounge.  He decided he did not have time to hide a body that time so he would just be taking enough to slake his thirst, but he was still going to charge a donor or two to Eirik’s bill, so Bill thought it would not be a total waste.

Bill helped himself to three donors (he got top of the line, so they went for a grand apiece.)  The Hotel would expect Eirik to pay the bill as Bill charged all three donors to his room, which was still under Eirik’s name.  Overall, Bill thought it was an excellent way to start the night.  When Bill finished with his snacks, he headed toward the back of the Hotel to exit through the alleyway but he saw yellow crime scene tape blocking the door.  He had to glamour a hotel employee into telling him that the authorities had found two dead bodies hidden in the dumpster at the end of the alley.  Bill thought when he killed the two women that he would have at least until Saturday before that beehive got shook up.  He guessed someone smelled the unmistakable stench of death and called 911.   _‘Go figure,’_ He thought bemusedly.

Oh well, he knew nothing could be done about that then.  He cheered up at the thought of the things he was planning to do to Jason Stackhouse, preferably while Sookie watched it all with tears in her eyes as she begged Bill for mercy.  _‘ HA!  She will get no mercy from me!  The bitch deserves what she gets for choosing the Viking over me.  Northman thinks himself above everyone else, well someday soon I am going to show him just how beneath me he really is.  That will be a fine day indeed.’_  

Heading back to the front of the Hotel Bill exited through the front doors.  He walked down the street to another alley, and then while hidden from sight he kicked it up to Vampire speed before he ran towards the warehouse.  He could not wait for his fun to begin.

When he arrived at the warehouse, he nodded to the guards standing outside as he walked to the door to enter the dilapidated building.  He could hear Jason’s grunts and cries of pain from outside.  Bill thought it sounded like someone had started the fun without him.  Just as he reached the door he heard someone behind him and spun around quickly only to come face to face with his Maker.  He thought, _‘Hmm, maybe I can use Stackhouse as a peace offering.’_

“You have been a very busy boy, William.  Tell me, does your toy know that you are torturing her beloved brother?”

“Lorena, I don’t have time for your games but to answer your question, I left a message on Sookie’s voice mail that I have her brother, and I wish for us to meet.  At that time, I will kill her brother and take Sookie for myself, or well, at least until I bring her to the queen then Sophie-Anne will Bond to Sookie and then Turn her.  After that, I will not have to listen to Sookie’s babbling or simpering anymore, and I will be able to fuck her the way I always wanted to without having to worry about breaking the annoying bitch.  Now if you will excuse me I have someone to torture!”  He turned and headed into the building, not waiting for Lorena to respond.

He heard her following him, so he stopped to look at her over his shoulder.  As he lifted an eyebrow in silent question she replied, “I have always enjoyed your torture techniques; do you mind if I sit in and watch the show?”

Bill huffed, “Fine, but I am running the show here Lorena, not you!  And when Sookie finally shows up you cannot kill her because then the queen will kill both of us, do you understand?”

“Of course, William.”  She batted her eyes at him coyly, and Bill simply rolled his eyes at the display before resuming his trek into the building to see what fun they could have at Jason Stackhouse’s expense.  Bill thought, _‘This should be fun!’_

**________________________________________________________________**

**Five Minutes Earlier**

“Where did the Viking take the Telepath?”  the guy in charge asked Jason for the tenth time.

Jason wearily responded the same as the last nine times.  “I don’t know.  I didn’t even know she was gone until you told me.”  He waited for the pain.  _‘ AAHHH there it is.’_  He thought sarcastically. 

Jason also thought he felt something in his back snap that time, and his legs going numb confirmed his suspicion.  He could not decide if that was a good thing or not.  On the one hand, he would not be able to feel anything they did to his legs, on the other hand, he figured it would not take them long to figure out he could not feel his legs, and then they would just move to torturing a different part of his body, one he could feel.

“Who is Seraphina the Elder?”  That question really had Jason stumped.  When they were little Sookie used to wish her name was Seraphina, so the kids would stop picking on her, but other than that Jason had never met or heard of anyone named Seraphina, so he honestly had no clue who the guy was talking about. 

Jason thought, _‘It is too bad for them that they chose the guy who doesn’t actually know anything.  Although, even if I did know anything they wanted to know I still wouldn’t tell them a damn thing.  Sookie wouldn’t rat me out, so no way, no how, am I going to rat her out.’_  

He told them exasperatedly, “I told you, I don’t know any Seraphina!”

“Lies!  You actually expect me to believe that your sister didn’t tell you what’s goin’ on?”

“She didn’t tell me anything.  I haven’t seen her since Thursday morning so I have no idea what’s going on with her, I swear.”  With the next kick, Jason felt at least one rib crack and he heard a bubbling sound when he tried to breathe, which just got much harder to do.  He thought slightly in a panic, ‘ ** _Shit, SOOKIE, you need to hurry Honey, I’m not gonna last much longer!’_**

Then in his head Jason heard the most beautiful sound in the world, **_‘We are coming for you now Jase, just hold on a little longer.  I LOVE YOU!”_**

He could not tell if he was hallucinating or not, but he thought back to her **_‘I LOVE YOU TOO SOOK!’_** just in case she could actually hear him.

Just then, Bill walked in, “Did you leave anything for me to break?”

Jason tried to speak, but he coughed up some blood, so he tried to speak again, with moderately better success.  “I knew…  Knew you were trouble, from the moment I heard Sookie met you…  Do me a favor, will ya…  when Eric kills you, think of me…  That’ll make it all worth it!”

“You fucker!” Bill shouted angrily as he kicked Jason almost as hard as he could.

_‘Guh!’_   Jason thought Bill definitely kicked harder than the other guy did as Bill continued speaking.  “I should drain you right now, but I want your slut of a sister to have to say good bye before I kill you, that’ll be the icing on the cake, as you humans say!”

Suddenly there was screaming outside, horrible screaming and someone laughing up a storm.  The door exploded and in walked Eirik, the one Vampire that actually offered himself up in Sookie’s place at the church the other night.  Jason once again thought Eirik might just be worthy of her!  Jason mumbled “’Bout time you got here!”

Eirik just laughed, “Sorry, I was delayed, the sun was in the way,” and Jason watched through suddenly blurred vision as Eirik beheaded another guy with his kick ass sword.

“Well at least you have a good reason for being late!”  Jason had to spit blood out of his mouth to be able to say that.  He wanted to ask where Sookie was, but he did not want to expose her until Eirik had taken care of all the bad guys.

When he finished cleaning house, Eirik came over to Jason and crouched down near his head, “Your sister is outside; I wish we could keep her from seeing you like this but I am going to call her in okay, but first I smell Compton… and Lorena?  They are not here; do you know where they went?

Jason tried to lift his arm to point towards a back door but his arm would not work, so he groaned and whispered, “out the back door.”

“I will catch up to them sooner or later…  I promise to kill him slowly for you, but right now I am going to stay with you and your sister…”  Eirik turned towards the door, “Sookie, Princess, it is safe to come in now.”

Before she showed up Jason motioned Eirik closer to him so Eirik bent down so Jason could whisper to him, “Take good care of our girl, she’s special!”

Eirik leaned back and smiled, “Yes, she is and I intend to take the best care of her I can.  I am already taking steps to protect her from other Vamps, so do not worry about her; I will take care of her for you!”

They both heard feet running and then Sookie was hovering over Jason too afraid to touch him for fear of hurting him worse.  Jason focused all his strength on speaking to her.  “Gran said…  Gran said you would know…  know what to do…  she said she’d teach you…  better do it now!  I LOVE YOU!”  He coughed up another lungful of blood and the world started to go black as he struggled to breathe.  “I’m leaving,” he whispered on his final exhale as the blood bubbled out of his mouth.  The last thing he saw through his own eyes were Sookie’s tear filled eyes as he felt her warm soft hand on his face, and then he felt himself drifting in that nothingness again before suddenly he was looking down at himself through Sookie’s eyes.  **_‘ Wow is that weird or what?’_**

She giggled despite the tears pouring down her face and the immense sadness filling her soul.  “It is definitely weird Jase!  Eric can, can you carry his body I don’t want to leave it here.  I want his body buried with the rest of our family.”

“Of course I can, Princess.”  Eirik gently picked Jason’s body up.

**_‘Hey Eric I can’t feel it anymore so don’t be gentle on my account!’_ **

Eirik’s eyes went wide with shock, and he turned to look at Sookie, “I can still hear him?  He is inside you?” 

Sookie nodded her head slightly to which Eirik told her, “He is correct that is definitely weird!”

Eirik stopped at the door, and in an effort to lighten the mood said, “Now he can annoy us for the rest of eternity, yay us!”

Jason’s spirit playfully scowled, **_‘Hey, I just died for you people so show a little respect will ya?”_**

Eirik and Jason both laughed at that but they both came up short when Sookie softly said, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you Jase!  I am sooo sorry!  This is all my fault if I had just listened to you and stayed away from Bill you’d be alive, gran would be alive, and everything would be the way it was supposed to be if I had only listened for once instead of being stubborn and willful…”  She felt like she was about to crumple.

Eirik sped outside with Jason’s body and then a moment later him and Sera, whom Jason had never seen before, walked back in.  Eirik went straight for Sookie and pulled her into his now empty arms, as Jason thought **_‘this is so very weird.’_**

“Princess this was not your fault.  The blame for this lies with so many people, but not, not with you!”

Jason added his two cents, “He’s right Sook, none of this was your fault and I’m sad, but I’m also happy cuz now I’ll never have to leave you.  I think you are wrong though, I think this is how things were supposed to happen.  Besides yeah a bunch of bad shit would not have happened if you had stayed away from Bill, but you also might never have met Eric, and I know deep in my soul that you are meant to be with him.”  He paused as he looked around inside Sookie, “And I think I have some company in here that agree with me, HOLY SHIT SOOK, how many people do you have in here!  Momma, Daddy, Gramps, Aunt Linda and Gran, that guy we used to see Gran talking to out in the yard when we were kids,  and then four of the Hottest women I’ve ever laid eyes on.  Hot Mama!  Sook you even got hotties in here… my life is perfect!”

Sookie laughed at that, “That’s Jase always thinking with his… well you know.”

Jason laughed at that!  It was good to have something to laugh about after the day he had!  He may have lost his body, but he gained his loved ones back, all of them!  Jason had an immense sense of rightness about everything that had happened recently, so he thought things were finally the way they should be.

**________________________________________________________________**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone who was kind enough to leave comments. I get so excited when I get the email telling me I have a comment, so thank you.
> 
> Oh and I wanted to post part of my response to one of those comments because I’m not sure Robin or I told anyone our plans when we came up with them, so here’s the quote:
> 
> “Also I wanted to mention that this story is the first in a series partially inspired by EricIzMine’s Multi-Verse… Angela’s initial idea was so awesome (not to mention her execution was flawless) and we are so sad that Angela was taken from the world so unexpectedly that Robin and I are hoping to do something similar as our version of a tribute to a truly brilliant woman and prolific storyteller. However, instead of calling them ‘skips’ we are going to call them ‘weaves’ (The series is tentatively titled ‘The Weaves of the Moiré’.) So regardless of what choice Jason makes in ‘It’s Elemental’ we will likely explore his other options in later stories…. so even if he doesn’t choose the way you want or you want to see what would happen if he chose differently you will eventually get to read the version you are hoping for as we currently have plans for versions where Jason becomes a spirit, becomes a Vampire, one (or more) where he stays human for the time being…” and at least one where he becomes something else.
> 
> So yeah, I had the beginnings of the idea for years, long before I ever read a single word of any of Angela’s stories but reading her stories and then finding out she had passed away solidified the ideas in my mind… Robin had a similar idea and then when we shared with each other we realized the ideas meshed perfectly. Our story will be different… the nature of the weaves will be slightly different as will the back story, which I have been working on since before I ever read a single word of Charlaine Harris’ works… so back in 1996 or 1995.
> 
> The point is this is just the beginning and if any of you have any requests for versions of Sookie and Eric or any of the other characters feel free to leave them in the comments and we will see what we can do. Oh and just to mention The Viking’s Pet is one of the Weaves… I get a lot of requests for it to be reposted.. I took it down to fix up with the intention of reposting it when we were done with it. Robin and I did a lot of work on it before we got the idea to turn it into an original story but I just want you all to know that it will be fixed up further and then reposted as well… I might read it over when my muse gets tired of It’s Elemental and see what Robin and I are working with since it’s been so long since I read it.
> 
> Thank you for reading this far if you reached this point….


	6. Why Can't I Kill A Couple?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 2015-01-11  
> The reference to ‘The Cleaners’ is a ‘tip of the hat’ to ‘Moonlight’, which was one of the best shows ever, in my humble opinion! 
> 
> A note about Stan Davis, I know in book two he was merely a sheriff… and in True Blood, he was one of Godric’s underlings who killed Steve Newlin’s family…. However, by book seven he had managed to become King of Texas so I am using the book version and pushing up the time line so that he is already King… The Stan from the show is just another Vampire named Stan and probably will not be mentioned in my story.
> 
> Additionally, the very beginning of this chapter somewhat repeats a scene from Chapter 005 – Waiting For The Pain because I did not think to open Chapter 006 and see if the scene was repeated in another character’s POV. I chose to repeat a little instead of reediting chapter 005 and then reposting it and making you all have to reread it… Therefore, there is a little overlap but other than the dialogue, the information is new and helps the story flow into the next scene more easily. In the future, I will try to open the next chapter before posting the current chapter to make sure this does not happen again.

**________________________________________________________________**

**It’s Elemental**

**By Lilly Gray & Robin McAllister**

**© 2011-2015 Sarah A. Higgins & Robin McAllister**

**Chapter 006**

**Why Can’t I Kill A Couple?**

**________________________________________________________________**

**Slightly before the end of Chapter 005 – Waiting For the Pain**

As Bill walked into the warehouse, he felt like whistling a jaunty tune because he was so excited about what was going to happen that night.  He saw Jason lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.  Bill thought, _‘ God it smells so good, not quite as good as Sookie’s but definitely better than the average human.’_ 

“Did you leave anything for me to break?”  He asked with a jovial smile on his face instead of giving voice to his thoughts.  _‘ God it is good to be me tonight.’_

Bill could see Jason trying to speak, but Jason coughed up some blood before trying again.  “I knew…  Knew you were trouble, from the moment I heard Sookie met you…  Do me a favor, will ya…  When Eric kills you, think of me...  That’ll make it all worth it!”

“You fucker!”  Bill kicked Jason, not as hard as he could since he did not want to kill the younger man just yet, but he definitely kicked him hard enough to break something.  “I should drain you right now, but I want your slut of a sister to have to say good bye before I kill you, that’ll be the icing on the cake, as you humans say!” 

Bill angrily thought, _‘How dare he think that Eric Fucking Northman is going to kill me!  HA!’_

Suddenly Bill heard the guards outside start to shout as he thought, _‘What the Fuck?’_   Then he heard Eirik tell someone to “stay with ‘her’ until the coast was clear,” and realized Eirik had found them, so Bill decided that it was time to leave.  Lorena and Bill were out the back door just as the front door exploded and Bill could hear Eirik laughing at something Jason said. 

Bill swung around the side of the building to see if he could find Sookie.  He saw her leaning against the side of a big black SUV with tinted windows.  _‘Perfect,’_ he thought.  Then Bill saw _‘that blasted woman’,_ and as he inched closer to the women, Bill noticed that the force field, which had already set him on fire once, surrounded Sookie and Sera.  As Bill gingerly touched his singed and slightly shorter fingertips he thought, _‘Well Shit, until I can figure out how to get past that force field I am pretty much out of luck.’_  

Just then, the wind shifted, and he got a strong whiff of Sookie’s scent.  In Bill’s opinion, Eirik’s stench had completely ruined her previously delicious aroma, _‘that Bitch Blood Bonded to him!  She chose him, over me?  The queen is going to kill me slowly for this!’_

Just then, Sera turned to look Bill right in the eyes, which sent a chill and sense of dread shooting down his spine before the feeling settled in his gut.  Lorena noticed Sera’s gaze on them and grabbed Bill’s arm, “William we need to leave.”  Bill knew they would both die that very night if they stuck around so as Lorena pulled on his arm he followed her and they both went back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel he headed up to his room, it was time to pack his things and leave before Eirik decided to pay Bill a visit.  Naturally, Lorena followed him up to the room.

“William, what is your plan now?  You do realize that your little bloodbag Bonded to North…”

“Yes!  Thank you for stating the obvious!”  He growled at her.  Grabbing his suitcase out of the closet, he began to fold all of his clothes at Vampire speed, so he finished packing in a matter of moments.

Lorena huffed as Bill walked into the bathroom to collect his things, “The queen is not going to like…”

Now it was Bill’s turn to huff, “Yes, there you go again stating the obvious.  I am well aware of the situation at hand.”

“I saw your pitiful Childe with them, maybe we could use her to kill Northman and then bring the little telepath to us.”

Bill sighed as he realized he should have thought of that.  Reluctantly he told her, “I released her.”

“You did what?  Why on earth did you do that?  We could have used her presence in their company to end that ass Northman.  He would not have expected that.  Then we could have had your Childe steal Sookie for us, and we could have killed your bothersome brat when her usefulness was over.  That way when the Council came knocking you could say she disobeyed a direct order to leave Northman and Sookie alone before you had a chance to issue a formal command, and all the blame would have been on her.  The queen will be most displeased by this missed opportunity.”

“I do not plan to tell Sophie-Anne, and I do not need that brat; I will figure a way out of this without her.  In the meantime, I cannot stay in Louisiana because the queen might decide to kill me, and I have to stay away from Mississippi because I did not return Russell’s money by sunset tonight.  On top of that, I probably need to leave Texas as soon as possible because Northman is going to be looking for me here. 

Godric’s following here is too strong and too many might choose to assist Northman out of some sense of duty to the late Godric so it would be best to move to a new playing field where Northman will not so easily acquire assistance.  Perhaps somewhere where I can more easily acquire help, do you have any idea where that might be?”  He finished shoving everything into his suitcase and closed the bag with a little more gusto than he needed before staring at his Maker to see if she had any idea where they might find safe haven.

“The late…  Godric is dead?”  Bill nodded so she continued, “Well good riddance I say.  You are correct, however, that too many here might feel beholden to his memory.  My Maker will likely take us in and he has powerful allies.  Between Threadgill and my Maker’s Maker, Lazarus Kross, we should be able to get some powerful allies on our side.  But they are all going to want to know what I want to know, what are you planning to…”  Lorena asked.

Bill wondered briefly if his Maker’s parents dropped her on her head as a baby because she was acting brain dead.  “I am going to head back to Bon Temps to collect my essentials, transfer the money to Russell hoping he does not mind that it was late and then I am going to move somewhere far away.  Arkansas sounds like the immediate choice if your Maker is close with Threadgill.  After that, I will contact the queen and help her figure out a way to get rid of Northman. 

The best-case scenario is she kills Northman for stealing her prize.  The worst case is she gets Northman and Sookie in her Court for the rest of eternity.  Maybe she can steal Sookie and Turn her before Northman can do anything, and then he would have to obey, just as she would; if they want to keep their unlives at any rate.”

Lorena shook her head at her Childe’s stupidity, “There is just one problem with that plan William.  The laws are very clear that no one, not even a queen, can mess with the Bond between a Vampire and his Blood Bonded.  The Counsel will have Sophie-Anne’s head, and yours, if you help her.  Since you released your brat, Sookie is lost to all but Northman…  Northman won…  Now Sophie-Anne has to play nice to get him to let her use his new pet.  What we need to concern ourselves with is avoiding retaliation from Northman for your torturing and possibly taking the life of his new pet’s brother, as I doubt the boy had much longer to live.  We also need to avoid retaliation from Sophie-Anne and, to a lesser degree, Edgington for you failure to complete the tasks they gave you.”

Bill smiled and it was not a nice smile, “This might work out yet…  It is all interconnected.  Russell will not be a problem once I give him back his money, which I will do as soon as I have my laptop.  Sophie-Anne will be preoccupied with Sookie and Northman and will never concede defeat so that means she will kill Northman, and then the Council will kill her for interfering with the Mate of a Blood Bonded.  The only problem I see is the matter of how quickly we can find someone willing to take us in until that all happens.  If we find a safe haven then our allies will keep us safe from retaliation by Northman or Sophie-Anne.  Furthermore, after a few days Northman will be just as preoccupied with Sophie-Anne as she will be with him, especially once she finds out he stole her shiny new toy. 

Then when Northman and Sophie-Anne are both finally dead, Sookie will be all alone in the world and I will be able to steal her away.  After I punish her, for choosing the Viking over me, I can sell her off to the highest bidder.  I could make millions off her.  Now we have just got to figure out how to make that all happen.”  He grabbed his bags and headed for the door figuring it would be best not to be there when Eirik came looking for him. 

Turning as he opened the door Bill saw Lorena just standing there with an expression on her face that he could not place, “Are you coming Lorena?  I am certain this is the first place Northman is going to look for me.  Moreover, he is probably on a rampage since I agree that Stackhouse had mere minutes left to survive.  Sookie either had to watch her brother die or she had to ask Northman to Turn him for her, and even then he was so damaged that it probably would not work, or we will end up with another Bubba, God forbid.”

Lorena shook her head as if to snap out of her funk and followed behind Bill as he left the suite.  “Of course I am coming, do you really think I am going to let my Childe face off against the world all alone?  You are one Vampire William, you cannot take on Northman and multiple monarchs all by your lonesome, and besides as I said I have friends, friends who are even more powerful than Sophie-Anne, Northman, and Edgington are combined.  They will help you if I am with you,” she matter-of-factly finished her statement.

Bill thought, _‘Good!  I can use them and then ditch them when it’s all over, hmmm maybe I can be King of Louisiana at the end of this.’_

They went down the stairwell that would lead them out the fire exit on the side of the building.  By the time, someone came to investigate the alarm Lorena and Bill were long gone.  They ran to the airport since it was quicker and cheaper.  They bought tickets for the next flight to Shreveport, which would leave in 20 minutes.

As Bill sat in the plane watching the runway speed by, he smiled to himself, while he thought, _‘this may all work out even better than I had originally planned.  I can make sure my enemies kill each other, make a couple million off the sale of Sookie, and then I can be King.’_

**________________________________________________________________**

**Right after the end of Chapter 005 – Waiting For The Pain**

Sera laughed along with Eirik and his Bonded as they exited the warehouse, but immediately Sera sensed that there were Weres and Demons closing in on them fast.  She turned to Sookie, “Sookie get in the car with the others and hold your force field up around the car!”

Eirik kissed Sookie’s forehead before pushing her towards the car door as he said, “Do it, Sookie.”  Then he looked at Sera, “What do you sense Sera?”

“We are surrounded.  We cannot fight them off with just the two of us without killing them all and we need to find out whom they work for so we need to take a few hostages.  Let’s get behind the force field with Sookie and I will make a call to help facilitate that.”  She took her phone out of her pocket and hit speed dial #2.

She smiled as it picked up after only the first ring and Leifr’s dulcet baritone filled her ear.  “Hello my pet, how are things with Eirik and young Sookie?”

“That is why I am calling… we are currently surrounded by at least 75 Weres and Demons.”  She paused for a moment as she scanned the area then she corrected herself, “Actually, the number is probably closer to 200, at least.”

“What?  Where are you?”

She told him the address, and he said, “I want the five of you behind that force field.  Do not take them on; we will be there with reinforcements in 10 minutes.  I Love you.  Stay safe Sera,” and he hung up.

“Eirik, we have help on the way, we just have to wait 10 minutes and we are not to fight, just wait!”

“Okay but Leifr knows how much I hate sitting and waiting.  Why can’t I kill a couple?  Then there would be fewer of them to kill when our friends get here.”  Eirik looked like he was itching for a fight.

“Those were Leifr’s orders.  You should disobey at your own risk, though I would like to remind you of the thorough whipping and the starvation you suffered the last time you disobeyed Leifr, or the ten times before that.  Sookie needs you right now.  At least wait until after her transformation is complete before you go disobeying orders again, okay?”

He huffed as he and Sera got into the back of the SUV and closed the door, “I was still a kid the last time I disobeyed him on anything major.  I am smart enough to realize that Leifr is my Clan Elder and my GrandMaker and therefore out ranks me in every way.  I would not disobey him on something this big unless it was a matter of life and death where the situation changed to the point that to follow his orders would mean the immediate death of someone for which I cared. 

However, you make a valid point about Sookie needing me so even if I was stupid enough to risk willfully disobeying a direct order from my Elder I would hold the urge in check to be here for her.”  To that end he pulled Sookie to him tighter and kissed her forehead again before answering the fear he saw in her eyes with a whispered, “Do not worry Princess.  They cannot get past the shield and Leifr and the rest of our family will be here sooner rather than later.  If by chance, something does happen Sera and I can easily take them all out just as we have done thousands of times before.  The only reason we are not doing so now is that we need to take some hostages and interrogate them to find out whom they are working for, and we also need to discover what their superior(s) know about us.  Know this I will not let anything happen to you, Jessica or Hoyt.” 

He nodded as her expression changed to one of gratitude.  “I know Compton filled your head with lies about me but I believe that law abiding citizens, be them human or Supernatural, should be allowed to live happy, free and safe lives free of the fear that they might be hunted simply for being one type of creature or another.  Furthermore, I know you well enough to know that you do not have a large extended family and that you consider Jessica and Hoyt to be as good as your family.  As such, I will do all in my power to protect them too, even if I had not sworn to keep Jessica safe. 

Your loved ones have nothing to fear from me, Sookie I swear it.  If it is within my power to keep them safe, I will.  I realize I failed you and your brother by not recognizing the danger he was in.  I will not make that mistake again.”

She opened her mouth to argue so he kissed her briefly and then said, “I know you do not see Jason’s untimely death as a failure on my part but I do.  I should have realized that if Compton could not get to you he would use those closest to you to try to draw you out.  Make no mistake, ultimately, I blame Compton and probably Sophie-Anne if she was the source of the muscle as I suspect.  However, Compton never should have been able to get within a hundred yards of Jason.  He was keeping to himself and I honestly forgot about him.  I regret that more than you can know and that regret will spur me on to avoid making the same mistake again.”

She smiled timorously and quietly told him, “I really don’t blame you but I understand about taking the situation as a lesson for the future.  For the record Jason does not blame you either.”

He kissed her again, “Thank you.”

A few moments later, they heard their enemies closing in and then they saw them break the edge of the lit clearing.  Sera could always Teleport them all out there, but they really did need to know who those guys were working for and what their boss knew, if anything, so they would wait for reinforcements and then kill most of them before taking a few as hostages.

The one in charge walked forward and looked at the group calmly sitting in the SUV, “Well lookie here, they decided to sit and wait for us, how convenient and thoughtful.  Kill the Northman, Seraphina the Elder and the other two but grab the blonde girl.”

Sera threw up her own shield to firm up Sookie’s shield just as the first Were was zapped when he got too close.  A moment later Sera thought, _‘Huh, it seems Sookie favors fire,’_ as the guy was screaming and running around with his clothes on fire.  Sera wondered if no one ever taught the man to ‘Stop, Drop, and Roll!’ 

Another man whom Sera dubbed _‘numbnut number two’_ reached out and tried to touch the shield.  He received the same treatment.  His hand looked blistered, but the spark did not reach his clothes.

The bad guys all looked at each other like, _‘what now?’_   Then the leader spoke, “If you come out of there I won’t personally torture you.”

Sera thought derisively, _‘No he will just have someone else torture us.’_   Sera decided to talk him up and delay him until Leifr and crew got there.  “Oh and how exactly do you plan to get us out of here; we can hold this shield up for days.”

“You only have until the sun rises then your Vampires goes ‘poof’!  So by all means, wait as long as you like.  That’d be two less for us to have to kill any way.”

“You really think this shield will not protect them from the Sun?  I know for a fact that it will, so again, how do you plan to get us out of here?”  She paused as she listened to the air around them and she smiled just as 14 Vampires, one Marked Mate, and one Demon dropped out of the sky.

Sera looked at her Mate and waved.  “Hi Honey, nice of you to drop in.  Have you met my new friends…” she turned back to the leader, “I am sorry I did not catch your name.”

Leifr chuckled and said, “No my pet, I have not had the pleasure of meeting your new friends.”

The bad guy in charge, Felix Covington, was worried as he could feel the raw power pouring off most of the creatures who had just dropped out of the sky.  There may only be 16 of them, but Felix thought most of them could probably raze a thousand strong army singlehandedly.

Sera could hear the Felix’s thoughts, so she smiled as she told Leifr, “Honey, he told them to kill all of us and take Sookie.”  She said it brightly and finished the statement with one of her dazzling smiles.  Leifr always said it felt like the warmth of the sun caressing his skin whenever she graced him with one of her many versions of that magnificent smile.

Leifr did not allow that smile to distract him, however, since he did after all have millions of years to learn how to bask in the glow of her smiles and still pay full attention to what was going on around them.  Therefore, he flashed her one of his famous smirks because he knew she was playfully trying to goad him into killing almost everyone.  A moment later he changed his expression to a scowl and turned to look at Felix before humoring his mate and asking, “New friend have you been threatening my Mate because I will not abide by that!”

“Uhh, I’m just following orders; I got no beef with you or yours.”  Felix was clearly becoming more and more nervous about Sera’s reinforcements the longer they stood there, and he should be worried since the 16 of them plus Sera and Eirik had in fact decimated thousand strong armies with their bare hands.  They had Godric with them then, but really, he was just one of the 19 of them, so the 18 currently standing around or sitting in the SUV would have no problem dealing with their current adversaries!

Sera finally got over the butterflies Leifr’s smirk set loose in her belly and decided to add to Felix’s discomfort, “Honey, his exact words were ‘Kill the Northman, Seraphina the Elder, and the other two but grab the blonde girl,’ so he definitely knew who I am.  Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that he also knew who my Mate is prior to my introducing you.  Sooooo, it would seem that he does in fact have ‘Beef’ with us since he knowingly chose to follow…”

“Edgington has the Beef, not us, but if we go back empty handed he’ll kill us.”  Felix looked very uncomfortable but he continued, “If you grant us safe haven we’ll fight for you.”  He shifted nervously as all the Vampires just stood there staring at him.  He wondered if Leifr would accept his proposal.  While ordinarily, Felix would not shift sides, most of the 75 Weres there with him that night were in his pack, and their safety and wellbeing were his responsibility, so if switching sides would keep his pack members alive then he would do just that. 

Leifr let him stew for a moment, “Well, My Mate appears unscathed, so that works in your favor…”

Sera interrupted, “That is only because of our shield.”  Everyone turned to look at Sera; she shrugged with her hands out in front of her palms up, as she replied to their unspoken comments “What?  I am just saying!”

Leifr walked towards his mate and straight through the shield before he opened the SUV door to pull her out and into his arms, “My pet, I get the impression you wish for me to kill everyone.  Why so quick to kill My Dove?”

“My Dove?  Really?  That name sucks.”

“About as much as Buster sucks, wouldn’t you say?”

She huffed, “I have not called you that in years.”

He scowled at her, “Except for just now in your head.”  She made an ‘oops’ expression which he leaned in and kissed away.

While they were otherwise occupied Felix and his men started to slide to the side, in an effort to escape while Sera and Leifr were busy, but just as he passed the couple Leifr’s hand shot out and grabbed the Were by the throat.  He pulled himself away from his love and asked, “Going somewhere my new friend?  The party has not even gotten started!”  Leifr turned to look at his Vampires and then turned to the Weres and Demons.  “All of you listen very carefully…  If you choose to swear fealty to me and mine, here and now, you may, and I will spare your life.  Those of you who wish to remain loyal to your current Master will be executed, though I do promise to make it quick.”

In a matter of minutes, all but a few of the Weres and Demons came up to Leifr to swear fealty.  Leifr made them swear to serve Himself and Eirik faithfully.

A Few decided to run.  Leifr nodded his head to his Vampires, so they shot up into the sky to hunt the others down.  Sera could hear screams in the distance, and then the Vampires returned.  Amazingly only one on Sera’s side, Irina, had blood on herself at the end of the bloodshed.  Everyone else managed to get barely a drop or two on him or her.  In Irina’s defense though, she was the youngest and most inexperienced of them all, well, except for Sookie and Jessica now.  However, Sera still wondered to herself, _‘Really?  She is actually covered head to toe in blood?’_

Sera shook her head.  _‘I hope no one sees her as we head home.’_ Just as Sera thought that two things happened:

  1.      Sookie, who was now standing beside Eirik and Sera outside the SUV, whispered, “She needs a shower!” 
  2.      Irina screeched as a deluge of water fell on her.



The water hit Irina and no one else.  Sera turned to look at Sookie, who just shrugged, “umm, oops?”  After a moment’s thought Sookie continued, “She can’t be walking around drenched in blood!”  She nodded her head as if that settled it; Sera supposed it did.

Then suddenly Sera’s second sight showed Irina calling Russell and offering to help him if he helped her to kill them all.  Oh and he needed to make her Queen.  Sera thought sadly, _‘Well damn!’_   Sera never liked Irina, but really, the future betrayal still hurt especially since it was from someone they were close to, someone they knew and lived with for more than 300 years.

Sera was certain that she blocked everyone from seeing her vision, and Leifr confirmed it by asking, “What did you see?”

She knew she sounded forlorn but she could not help it, betrayal sucked!  “I will explain later, it is not pertinent to our situation now.”  Sera knew she would need to tell Leifr and eventually Eirik, but right then they needed to focus on their new friends, so she turned back to the matter at hand.  “Will Stan let us use his facilities to have a little talk with our new friends?”

Leifr chuckled, “he already offered when we left him in such a hurry.”  He continued after a moment, “Eirik can you carry your Mate while we fly to Stan’s compound?”

Eirik nodded, but then as Sookie went to object he remembered, “We have the… well, Sookie’s brother, Jason, died tonight and we have his… body.  Sookie wants to bury him in her family’s plot back in Bon Temps.  Also, I do not believe Jessica knows how to fly yet.”

Jessica shook her head no apologetically, as Leifr turned to Sookie and gently took her hand, “I am very sorry for your loss.  If I may, I have a suggestion.  I will have one of my Childer wait for the Cleaners to arrive and sanitize the area, and they can ship his body to Shreveport for burial preparation.  There is no point carrying his body around where it might receive further damage.  This way he can be tended to properly as he deserves.”  He paused as Sookie nodded, “Tristram?”

“Yes Master?”  Tristram was tall and built like a brick house.  Sookie pressed in closer to Eirik as Tristram approached.

Eirik whispered to her, “It is okay, Princess, everyone here is loyal to Leifr,” she just hugged him tighter.

Leifr turned back to Sookie, “Lady Sookie, may I present Tristram.  Tristram is my fourth oldest Childe.  He has served us well for hundreds of thousands of millennia.  He will see to it that your brother is well cared for.”

Tristram reached for Sookie’s hand and lightly kissed the back of it, “My Lady, I would be honored if you would entrust me with this duty.”  His accent was probably the thickest out of all of them.  He spoke that way intentionally.  His opponents often mistakenly believed him to be far less intelligent than he actually was because of his incredible size and the thick accent. 

Eirik could tell Tristram had successfully charmed Sookie as she nodded and said, “Thank you, I appreciate that.  I uh, I don’t know how I’m going to bury him without the whole town knowing, and there will be questions if he just disappears,” She looked up at Eirik as she said that last part with tears in her eyes.

He responded softly, “Do not worry about that right now, Princess; the Cleaners will make all of the arrangements and concoct a believable cover story.  That will allow us to concentrate on planning how to deal with the queen, Edgington and Compton.  We will worry about how to deal with the citizens of Bon Temps later after the Cleaners have done their job.  If necessary we can always glamour everyone but rest assured, the matter will be taken care of for you.”

“Okay, thank you,” She whispered as she looked down timidly.

Eirik wondered, _‘What is this?’_ so as he tipped her chin up to look into her watery blue eyes he said, “Hey, look at me; you do not have to thank me for taking care of you, that is my right, privilege and duty as your Bonded.”  He thought the rest to her so that their new friends would not hear, but he did not block his family from hearing **_‘and it will be even more so when I give you the Marks.’_**

He could see every Vampire there, except Irina, smile at that.  He decided he would have to think about that later.  Irina had always prided herself on being the only woman Leifr turned in the last couple thousand millennia.  She was definitely not his only female Childe; there were two more who still existed, both of whom were significantly older than Irina was.  She still told everyone that she was the last and only woman he had wanted to turn in millennia, which Eirik guessed was true, but she did it in a way that implied she was the only woman Leifr ever turned.  Eirik knew Sera did not like Irina, never had in fact, and he believed the feeling was mutual.  He decided he would have to keep an eye on Irina; he thought she might have a problem sharing her family with Sookie and Jessica.

Leifr asked, “Tristram, if it is okay with Eirik, his young charge and her friend will ride with you when you return to Stan’s residence.”

Eirik nodded as Leifr continued his thought, “Are we ready then?  Tristram, you will call the Cleaners, and you will see that Mr. Stackhouse’s body is properly tended to.  Young Jessica and her friend will accompany you on your mission.  The rest of us will fly to King Stan’s compound.  Yes?”  He turned to their new friends and gave them directions to the compound and a few promises about what would happen to deserters, then he looked at his Vampires and said, “Let us be on our way then, My Pet, come here I shall carry you as Young Eirik will carry his Mate.”

Eirik took a moment to tell Jessica, “You will be safe with him, but until you meet back up with us his word is law, understood?”

“Yes, Eric.”

“Very good, I am proud of how you have behaved today, despite all the stress that would have caused a lesser newborn to act out in some way.  You, Jessica, have been very mature and calm since you woke, even when you were scared, and I want you to know I realize the struggle to maintain control you have been successfully toiling with tonight.  The good news is with time that control will be less difficult to maintain.  More good news is that you are well on your way to becoming the Vampire I know you can truly be.  You should be proud of yourself.” 

He kissed her forehead and wiped away a tear that escaped her eye as she whispered, “Thank you.”  Eirik smiled at her and nodded, and then he, and the others, shot up into the air.

Sookie was scared, one minute they were all standing around talking and the next she was in Eirik’s arms as he shot up into the sky, “AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”  She burrowed in, as close to him as she could manage, while she thought, _‘This is pretty scary!’_

Eirik chuckled, and then said, “Shh, Sookie, I have you.  I promise I will not drop you.  If you can remove your face from the crook of my neck you can see downtown Dallas all lit up!”

She peaked her eyes up and to the side then she looked down “HOLY SHIT!  How high are we?  OH GOD!”  She was starting to hyperventilate.

“Shh, Sookie, I have carried Sera for far longer and I never once dropped her, well except for that one time, but she deserved it.  I dropped her in a lake, fully clothed from the height of a tree branch but you I will never drop, not even if you deserve it, I promise.  Shh, breathe through your nose, big deep breaths in and then slowly out.”

She just breathed for a while, and then he asked, “Better?”

“Yes, thank you.  I…  I didn’t know it, but apparently, I don’t like heights.”

“Well, the great thing is, when I give you the Marks you will be able to fly too, and then you can never fall because you can catch yourself in mid-air.”  He said with a smile, which she could hear in his voice.  He was not picking on her; he was genuinely trying to help; and what do you know it was working.

“If that’s true and you said that Leifr Marked Sera, then why is he carrying her?”

“Because she is just like you, she hates heights, which is why when I dropped her into the lake I did not do it from any higher than a rope swing would have thrown her.  She was angry and would not talk to me for the rest of the day, but after she got over the shock of it she thought it was funny and an appropriate punishment.”

“But if she could fly?  Then why didn’t she…?”

“Because I am faster than she is and I did not drop her from far enough up to give her time to think about it.”  He chuckled, “It was totally worth my punishment to see her walking out of the lake drenched and her hair all a mess, twigs and debris in it… totally worth it!  Before you ask I will tell you why she deserved it on the way back to the safe house, because we are here.”  He softly touched down and then slowly let go of her legs so she could put her feet on the ground.

When she looked up she was shocked, “Holy cow Eric!  This isn’t a house.  This isn’t even a mansion.  This is like a freaking castle!”  She blushed when she heard someone laugh from the shadows.

“I am pleased by your reaction to my home.  You must be Ms. Stackhouse?  I am Stan Davis, King of Texas.”  He smiled with a little fang, and then said, “You really do smell delicious, too bad for me you are already Blood Bound to Eirik.  Well done, my boy, well done!”

At first, Eirik growled at Stan when he was talking about it being unfortunate that they shared a Blood Bond, but then he smiled and said, “Thank you Stan.  I feel as if I have won the world.”

“In a way you have, young Eirik!”  Stan motioned towards the door, “Please, welcome to my home.  Ms. Stackhouse, can I get you anything to eat or drink?  I have many humans here so I have plenty of food and drink to accommodate one more.”

“Oh, Mr. Davis, please call me Sookie and I am fine thank you,” she said with a small smile.

Eirik growled slightly, “Sookie, you are hungry I can feel it.  It has been hours since you last ate.”

She stepped back a bit at the look on his face, “Yes, but it’s rude to…”

“Sookie what part of ‘you need to keep up your strength’ do you not understand?”  He took a step towards her and she took two steps back.  He paused, “Sookie, do not do that!”

“Eric, do what?”  He took another step closer to her and as she moved to step back again, he used his vampire speed to capture her in his arms.  “Eric you’re scaring me.”

“I am sorry that was not my intention,” He said softly as he relaxed his hold on her.

She started to calm as she felt the Bond between them flooded with worry and love.  “I do not mean to scare you, but we have at least three, three, very real threats to you and you have not finished your transformation.  I just do not want you to get hurt and the best way to prevent that is for you to keep your strength up!”

“Okay, I…  I could eat something,” she said softly while trying to avoid looking into Eirik’s eyes.

“Sookie, look at me.”  She did not want to.  She was afraid of what she would see, but his finger tipped her chin up, and she saw only love and concern in his eyes, “I realize you are not used to all of this and that you have been thrown into the Supernatural World without a manual, so to speak.  It is important that you take your cues from me.  I will try not to be so… scary, but your safety is paramount to me.  I would not survive the loss of you.  Even without the Marks, I would kill everyone responsible for your death, and then I would follow you to Valhalla.  I am not…  I am not used to caring so strongly, so please bear with me, all right?  I am trying to keep you alive and I just have to find the right balance…” he finished that comment in his head but she did not think he meant for her to hear it, **_‘between Dominance and submission.’_**

Eirik knew he must teach Sookie properly, as her safety would fall to him.  He must be strict, but he did not want to use fear as a tool, in his opinion, fear should not enter into their relationship.  He needed her to trust him implicitly for them to work as a couple.’

Sookie pointed out, “Sera said food would not be strictly necessary…”

Sera interrupted her, “Food will not be absolutely necessary once the transformation is complete and I have had the opportunity to teach you how to get your energy and nutrients from the world around you.  However, that ability is more to be used as a supplement to food, not an actual replacement unless absolutely necessary. 

You will find it difficult to consume enough calories to keep up with the amount of energy you will be burning given all the abilities and powers you will be accessing so that particular ability will allow you to add to your energy from the world’s energy around you.  It should not be used as a substitute unless food is not available you.  Additionally, you should always eat when you are hungry.  You are going to be expending a lot of energy from now on, so as I said you will likely need to eat more than you have in the past.” 

Sookie looked ready to argue as Eirik nodded so he said, “I can feel your hunger so do not try and deny it as that will only serve to anger me.”  He paused and looked into her deep blue eyes, “I need for you to be honest when it comes to your care and wellbeing.  I do not want you holding back or not getting something you need because you do not wish to be rude.  No one in the Supernatural world will think you rude for asking for and/or accepting what you need to survive.  And humans are beneath us,”

Sookie went to interrupt, but he placed a finger on her lips and continued, “I know you do not agree with that, but something you are going to have to come to terms with in your new existence is that we stand outside of time, humans only last for a blink of our eyes.  We are stronger, more powerful and more intelligent,”

She tried to interrupt again, but he did not allow it, “I know we are not all born smarter than humans, Compton is proof enough of that.  Most Vampires were born human first.  However, just as older humans are often smarter than human children are, because their age has given them knowledge and wisdom that the child just does not have yet, the same is true of Supernaturals.  With age usually comes knowledge and wisdom that makes us smarter in the end, with very few exceptions, Compton and his Maker notwithstanding.  Additionally, although we start out the same the transformation from human to Vampire changes things inside us and makes us different and better. 

Therefore, be polite if you need to be, but you should never keep quiet when you need something.  Everything you have ever mentioned about your gran and the lessons she taught you tells me that your gran likely taught you how to be polite and still ask for something, no? 

Please, for me, try to be more mindful of that particular habit of yours.”  He finished with a quick kiss to her lips and then pulled away from her.  Everyone in the room was trying not to smile, but they were failing miserably.  Eirik did not see what there was to smile about.  He thought that habit of hers was going to get one or both of them killed.

Stan picked up right where he left off before Eirik’s little speech, “I will call you Sookie, but only if you call me Stan!  Now, what would you like to eat?  I can have my chef make anything you like.”

“Uhh.  I’m not, I don’t, I…”  She stuttered.

She was nervous, so with his arms still wrapped around her Eirik kissed her forehead and asked, “What is your favorite food, Sookie?”

“What, no that’s too much…  I can just have a sandwich.”

He growled, “Sookie, Sera just finished saying that you need to eat more than you have in the past.  Therefore, one little sandwich will not be enough!”  He paused and then continued, “Disregard what you have been told again and I will punish you.” 

Her eyes flared at that, and he wondered if he went too far, too soon, but then he smelled her arousal, _‘hmmm just as I suspected,’_ he thought. 

Instead of giving voice to his thoughts he said, “Sera you spoke with the Doctor, what would be a good meal for someone who is transforming into an Elemental?”

Sera looked torn, but then Leifr stepped in, “Sera he asked you a question.”

“Umm fried chicken probably has a little more fat than strictly necessary, but with collard greens, green beans, and maybe some sweet potatoes, since regular potatoes are too starchy and not really of any nutritional value, I think that would be a good meal.”  She smiled apologetically at Sookie.

“Sookie would you like to have that?”  She looked nervous again.  Eirik knew he really should not have asked Sera, he should have made Sookie say it, but she looked so uncomfortable.

“I don’t…  I’m not…  it’s too…”  He frowned at her and obviously opened his mouth to argue the point so she changed her line of thought and tentatively said, ‘Y…  Yes please.”

He smiled down at her and kissed her lips briefly, “Thank you Princess.”

Stan motioned to one of his help and told them what Sookie would like to eat, and they left to see it done.  When he finished placing Sookie’s food order Stan turned to Eirik and Leifr before he motioned down the hall.  “I will have my men speak with your new retinue when they arrive; in the meantime I have several people waiting for us in the sitting room.  Let us sit and we can discuss the future.”

**________________________________________________________________**


End file.
